Trapped in Her Eyes
by kj-writes-stuff
Summary: Inga, a 16 year old girl who sold herself into slavery, has a dark past. She hides it from others, and no one ever seems to question her. But one night, Ivar notices something odd about her and he becomes interested. He takes it upon himself to figure out the truth behind her and in the process the two begin to fall in love.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a warm day outside and Inga was enjoying herself while out in the woods. The birds were chirping and the snow was melting off the trees. Flowers were making an effort to bud and the sun was projecting its biggest 'smile.' Everything was at peace and everything was nice. And with all the happiness that bubbled out of Inga, you would've never know that she was a slave.

At just 16 years of age, she had sold herself into slavery after her mother died. She felt as though she had no purpose and no way to make profit to survive. And while slavery wasn't a very exciting opportunity, it gave her food, clothes, warmth, and a shelter.

Her job was to serve the Lothbrok family (which consisted of Queen Aslaug, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar). But, she loved it all the same.

Out in the woods, Inga sat gathering herbs. It was a job she was very good at and she was often praised for. Often times, the Queen would even let her skip out on serving dinner and let her go out and pick flowers for decoration and herbs for food. She knew very well that the other girls were jealous of all the attention she got, but Inga didn't mind, she didn't really enjoy the company of the other slaves.

Most of the girls just sat around washing laundry and talking about the princes. They often bickered about who was the best of the four, an annoying game that could never be won, and a game that Inga particularly hated. The woods gave her solitude and kept her away from all of the girly conversations revolving around the princes, for she knew that her opinion on the Lothbrok boys would certainly make the others laugh.

Out in the distance, she could hear the Lothbrok brothers training. Usually she stayed and picked herbs close to where they practiced in case something were to happen, but most of the time she did so because she found their conversations interesting, and the brothers made her imagine what it would have been like if she would've had siblings of her own.

She closed her eyes and inhaled. The scent of the forest and herbs mixed with the scent of the air after a fresh rain. She could hear them fighting in the background, the sounds of their training melding in with the sounds of all the animals. After a while, things settled and she could sense them taking a break. She opened her eyes and decided to go check and see if they needed anything.

She walked through the forest, winding through the trees and found herself running right into Ubbe. She let out a squeak and hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked helping her up. She nodded and brushed off her clothes.

"Oh yes, I am fine. I was just surprised."

"Good. Is there something you need?"

Inga smiled, "I was just coming to see if any of you needed anything, it is my job to serve the 4 of you and make sure that all of your needs are met."

Hvitserk grinned, "It's good to hear that, but we don't need anything at the moment."

She nodded her head and turned to leave, but something tugged at her leg. She looked down and saw Ivar staring up at her.

"I need something."

She nodded lightly and awaited his answer, he let the silence hang in the air before answering to her approval.

"I want you to go and grab me something from the blacksmith, it is a new sword that I had forged, and I want to try it out."

Inga smiled and politely agreed. "If that is what you wish, then I shall do so."

She turned and headed back through the woods. Her trip to the blacksmith would be a short trip and in no time she would be back on her own. In the solitude. Just how she liked things to be.

"That was horrible!" Hvitserk exclaimed, "I thought you knew how to throw knives, Sigurd!?"

He chuckled, "I guess I need more practice," He said trying to shrug off the feeling of failure.

Ivar smirked and looked up at his brother devilishly, "You really do need to improve, brother. I can throw better than you, in fact, I can do most things better than you."

Sigurd grumbled something and glared up at Ivar, "This isn't a competition."

Ivar chuckled, "Sure it's not."

Ubbe frowned, sensing the tension between the two brothers, "Don't start arguing, just relax, both of you."

Hvitserk, "How about we just take a break from training. Inga will be back very soon with your sword, Ivar, we can just sit and talk until she gets back."

"A conversation would be nice…and since you mentioned Inga, let's talk about her."

"Why her?" asked Ivar, raising an eyebrow, "Do you like her?"

Ubbe laughed, "I must admit, I really have the eyes for Margarethe, but when it comes to looks, Inga is a whole new story."

"Her eyes are as green as the trees and her hair is red as fire, and her skin is as pale as a snow storm. If I know anything, her look is the definition of beauty," Sigurd exclaimed.

Ivar rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you all find her so beautiful, I find her quite plain. She sold herself into slavery, she likes serving others, her hair is just red, and plenty of people have green eyes. And why is she always out in the woods? Don't any of you ever wonder a thing?"

Hvitserk snorted, "Well you definitely seem like you have a grudge against her, and she's been nothing but nice to you. She does everything that you tell her, she never looks at you pitifully and I guarantee I know why she stays out in the woods."

"Tell me what you think then."

Hvitserk grinned, "I think she likes you, I think she is always so polite because she's fascinated with you, although I don't know why she would be."

"And either do I, so it just proves that you're wrong. No woman would ever look at me and be interested, most women just pity me or look terrified, I don't know why that makes her any different than the rest of the slaves."

Suddenly, Ivar heard a rustling out in the bushes. The four brothers froze. It was Inga.

"I brought the sword, Ivar," She said while pushing through the bushes.

He hoisted himself off from the log he had been resting on and crawled over to Inga. She handed him the sword and turned away to leave, but before she could, Ivar spoke up.

"Thank you."

She turned around, surprised to get a "thank you" and she nodded, "I am always at your service, every great warrior deserves respect, so I give you that. If any of you need anything, I will be willing to help."

"Is that so?" Ubbe grinned.

Inga nodded quickly.

"Then I offer you the chance to stay and watch us practice, I'm sure that it gets lonely sometimes when you're in the woods alone."

She blushed, "Not really…I like the solitude. The other slaves spend too much time talking."

"About what?" The four of them seemed to exclaim at once.

Inga giggled, "They talk about you. And not that I don't find you all interesting, I just don't like to share my opinions."

"Opinions?" Sigurd asked.

"Yes. About who is the strongest or the handsomest. I don't like to choose sides."

"Is that so?"

Inga nodded at Ubbe, "And not just that, the others don't take their work seriously all the time. I take pride in what I do. It is the reason that I am still alive."

Suddenly everyone fell silent and only the cawing birds could be heard.

"Well…do you have a favorite?" Hvitserk asked slyly. He glanced over at Ivar, who was trying his best not to pay attention to the conversation.

Inga blushed, "I…I don't know," she stammered, "I would have to take a lot of things into consideration. And you are all special for different reasons. If you want to hear someone's opinion, ask one of the other slaves, just not me. I prefer to keep my opinions to myself."

They all nodded. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you my opinion. I just don't think that it would be proper for me to say. I wouldn't win their affection anyway."

"Too many girls to compete with?" Ubbe said smiling, as though he thought that it was him that Inga was attracted to.

"Perhaps. Or maybe I'm just not good enough. I find myself rather boring. I probably annoy you all with my words about service, I guess that I am just too much myself."

Sigurd smiled, "Then so be it. Be who you are, isn't that right, Ivar?"

Inga watched as Ivar flinched at the sound of his name and he irritably lifted his head up.

"Sure. Whatever you say, brother. Whatever you say."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was later in the day and Inga was in one of the cabins washing laundry with the other slaves. While it wasn't a task she enjoyed and she didn't like to have to listen to the other's conversations, she still had to do some sort of chore other than herb picking. She sat on a stool scrubbing away at a stain on one of the Queen's dresses.

"So…who's the best of the Lothbrok brothers?" A slave by the name of Brunhilde asked the others.

A tall black haired girl let out a giggle, "I really like Ubbe."

Brunhilde rolled her eyes, "You always say that, Tuva. But you're wrong, Hvitserk is the best."

Another girl spoke up, "I like Sigurd. He is a wonderful musician and such a charmer!"  
A fit of laughter broke out between the slaves, and Inga just rolled her eyes at how ridiculous they were acting.

"Do you have an opinion, or are you just going to sit there as always, Inga?"

Brunhilde snapped.

Inga tried her best to give a polite smile, "I do now wish to give my opinion."

"Oh you're no fun!" Tuva whined, "Haven't you ever had a crush on anyone?"

Inga nodded, "I did, but I don't now. At least not yet."

"Fine. Be boring," Brunhilde grumbled, "It's a good thing that you're always out in the woods. We don't need a little oddball hanging around us."

Inga flicked her head up and gave Brunhilde a long hard stare. She watched as the young slave paled at the sight of Inga's sudden look of annoyance.

"Just look at you. You think you have power over me, but I used to be a free woman, and you've never had a taste of freedom. Even now I can still do as I please, but you can't. You won't admit it, but you're jealous. You are jealous because all of the sons of Ragnar find me attractive, but they don't find you attractive. Who would ever want a dull brown haired girl with mucky eyes? Hmm?"

Brunhilde went quiet and looked down at her hands. She shifted uncomfortably on her stool and went back to cleaning laundry.

"If they all like you, why don't you ever show interest in them?" Tuva asked quietly.

"Because I don't know them well enough."

"You're very odd. You don't have to know someone to be attracted to them."

Inga laughed, "Yes. I am odd, but so are you."

"And why is that?"

"Your games never make sense. Why do you always say that Ubbe is the best, or Hvitserk is the best? Or Sigurd? Why not Ivar?"

All 3 of the slaves gasped. "You like Ivar?" Brunhilde exclaimed.

"What? NO!"

Tuva giggled, "Don't lie. We've seen how you treat him. You treat him like he is just like every other man."

"Because he is like every other man!"

Brunhilde snorted, "He can't walk. Have you forgotten?"

"I know he can't walk, but he's still a man. I just think that he's rather smart. And the fact that he can fight and get around, the fact that he's so fearless, it's inspiring. He's different and he's interesting. I respect him for that."

Tuva grinned, "You should try talking to him!"

"Why?"

Brunhilde smirked, "You said he was interesting, so befriend him. I'm sure you can charm him if you can charm the other 3 brothers."

"And why a sudden change in heart?" Inga asked eyeing Brunhilde suspiciously.

"Because this is such interesting news! You would give us something new to talk about. The love story of Ivar and Inga!" Another explosion of giggles erupted in the cabin.

"Maybe I'll try talking to him…but don't expect a love story! Forget this dumb conversation ever happened!" Inga groaned. She should have never said a word.

Inga was walking down the dirt road alone. She didn't really feel in the mood to pick any herbs or flowers, but she did feel the need to be alone. She looked up at the blue sky. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt embarrassed for having spoken up against the other slaves. She sighed and looked down at her feet. Suddenly, she felt a hand press against her back and she turned around surprised.

"Hvitserk?" She asked surprised.

"Hello Inga. I had a question for you."

"You do?" She asked sounding confused. What could he possibly have to ask? "What's the question?"

"Since I'm leaving with Bjorn tomorrow, I thought that it would be nice to invite you to eat dinner with our family."

"But, I'm a slave…"Inga mumbled.

"Not to us. My mother knew your mother and so she still looks at you as a family friend. Please consider coming," He persuaded. In a way he seemed sincere, but Inga could tell that what he was asking was merely his way of meddling.

"Alright, I suppose I shall come. But why is it that you want me to come? If anyone, wouldn't you want to see Margarethe? All of you are practically fawning over her."

Hvitserk laughed, "That may be true, but that doesn't mean that I don't consider you a friend and a part of the family."

Inga smiled back at him and nodded, "Alright, I'll be sure to come."

Ivar was sitting alone in the dining hall when Hvitserk came in with a grin on his face.

"What did you do?" Ivar immediately inquired.

Hvitserk just cast him another grin, "I invited your little love interest to dinner. Told her that it was for me, but it's for you. I thought maybe you could try talking to her and charming her. I know you already have slept with Margarethe, but you seem like you would get along much better with Inga."

Ivar clenched his fist, "Why did you do this without my permission? Maybe I don't want to get to know her."

Hvitserk shrugged lazily, "Too late now. And I know I'm not often a meddler, but a good brother helps his younger brother get a girl."

"I don't need you to help me get a girl. I already made Margarethe special slave."

"You what?" Hvitserk asked amazed, "She really likes you? Or is this just you trying to annoy Sigurd?"

Ivar rolled his eyes, "A bit of both, I presume. You know how much Sigurd and I don't get along, mostly because he is just jealous of me, so this really makes our situation much more interesting."

"Whatever you say brother. Just…try talking to her, she looks at you different from the others, she just might be the one."

Ivar laughed, "Sure… _the_ _one_ ," he picked up his horn of ale and turned away to drink, but he was interrupted by his mother entering the room.

"Hello Ivar," She greeted, "And you Hvitserk, you are all here early. Is there some excitement perhaps?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Inga will be joining us for dinner tonight."

Aslaug smiled, "Ah, yes. She is a lovely young lady. Her mother was a good women, so unfortunate that she lost her husband when Inga was just a young, growing girl. Almost like family, and definitely someone I can trust. Considering that none of you boys are married yet, she would definitely make a suitable bride for one of my four sons," she remarked, "So this dinner will definitely be an interesting one."

Hvitserk let out a chuckle, "That was the plan."

"But not mine," Ivar mumbled, "It was quite the…surprise." He took a sip of his ale and stared at the burning coals of the fire.

He watched the orange flames twist and turn around. He hated to admit it, but Sigurd was right about Inga's hair resembling fire. When it blew in the wind it twisted and turned much like the fire turning about in the coals. He stared a while longer in deep thought before hearing his other brothers enter the room along with two others, Margarethe and Inga. Immediately he reacted by grabbing Margarethe and seating her next to him. He had to annoy Sigurd and he had to keep his secret safe. As much as he hated to look at Margarethe and remember, he much rather not have his brothers know the truth.

Inga, who was wearing a bright green gown, stood a little stiff. Her arms crossed and body positioned away from the others, she seemed to be looking for a place to sit where she would be less noticeable. Ubbe, who was always trying to impress every woman he came across, pulled out a chair for Inga to sit in. Ivar watched as she gladly accepted it, sat down, and proceeded to try and blend back in with the wall. Ivar didn't seem to understand why she would try and not be noticed, though. He didn't personally find her interesting, but he could tell that there was more to her than she revealed, but why hide? He took another sip of his mead while holding Margarethe's hand, but he kept his eyes on Inga and tried to see past her make-shift disguise. And to his surprise, she just stared right back, and he began to feel like he was frozen just looking, trapped in her eyes. Could she see through his lies and attempted cover-ups? He shifted uncomfortably and tried his best to avert his attention from her. What an odd girl.

He continued to sit for another couple minutes, just eating and relaxing, until he felt the need to converse.

"I have an announcement. I have made Margarethe my special slave, and I have been considering…marrying her." He gave a slight smirk and looked directly at Sigurd, who did not look happy. That was exactly what he was aiming for.

"Truly Ivar?" His mother asked sounding surprised, "Good for you. It is about time someone settled down. Ubbe, you should already be married, and you should already have children."

Ubbe gave a cocky grin, "I probably already have children."

Hvitserk chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised."

Ivar watched as his mother just rolled her eyes, "I'm being serious, it is important that you have a wife and children, and you figure out your priorities in life."

"Well, I thought I knew who I was going to marry, but Ivar took her," Sigurd grumbled.

Aslaug paused for a second, "Well, you don't need to love her. You just need a wife to breed with. After finding one, then you can have as many women on the side as you want."

Ubbe and Hvitserk exchanged a laugh and slapped their drinks together, almost as though they were trying to lighten the mood, only it didn't help.

"Oh so, did you ever love father?" Sigurd asked rudely. Ivar watched as his mother's face tightened and she gripped her drink tightly.

"Of course I loved him, just maybe in a different…"

"Different?" he interrupted, "Well, let's see. I feel a different feeling about someone, she may not be who I had intended to marry, but she'd make a fine wife," Sigurd replied slyly while turning to look at Inga.

Ivar tightened his grip on Margarethe's hand and he heard her take a deep breath in as though she thought it was going to be her last.

Suddenly feeling a bit jealous, Ivar intervened, "Sigurd, how could you! To ask mother such questions"

Sigurd smiled seeing now that he was getting on Ivar's nerves, and he began to stand up, "I was just wondering if she loved father, or anyone except Harbard for that matter," He responded.

Ivar smirked, "Well…she always loved me."

His brothers all exchanged looks of annoyance and Ubbe and Hvitserk went back to eating. Sigurd, however, kept talking.

"Sometimes I wish that we would have just left you to the wolves."

Ivar watched as Ubbe instantly shot up and cast Ivar a look that said "don't fight him." Inga's eyes were wide and she looked shocked. She had clearly never experienced a fight between the two brothers.

Ivar began to pull himself up slowly and shakily, but he made sure to keep his grip on the table firm and his eyes sharp. He tried to pull himself along by grabbing at chairs, so that he could make it over to Sigurd, but he was beginning to struggle. Especially when Sigurd somehow managed to pull a chair out from under him and Ivar fell to the ground. Ivar watched his brother begin to turn around and walk away tauntingly. He didn't know how to react, but the first thing that came to mind was to crawl after him as fast as he could, with a look of death on his face and a scream. And he did just that.

He charged after his brother screaming curses and dragging himself to the point that scratches were probably left on the floor, but his mother got in between and pulled Ivar to a stop.

"Calm, Ivar. He left. We can enjoy dinner in peace now."

Angrily, Ivar dragged himself back over to his chair and hoisted himself up. He didn't say much the rest of dinner, he just stayed silent and deep in thought. But occasionally his mind would wander back to Inga and he would look at her, just to have her look back and for him to awkwardly shield his eyes from her painful stare. He didn't know why or how, but for some reason, her look said "I know your secrets" and made him feel exploited. And again, as much as he hated to admit it, Hvitserk was right. Maybe he should try talking to her. Because for a quiet, stiff girl, she definitely had a background that she was forgetting to tell everyone. And he felt that it was his job to find out what she knew and who she really was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Quick announcement: In the last 2 chapters for some reason the dividers did not save and so some of the story might not have really flown together. My apologies. This is my first fanfiction, hopefully you are enjoying it and 3 chapters will tide you over until I can get out chapter 4, which will probably be out in a week.**

Chapter 3

It was the morning after the dramatic dinner with the Lothbrok family, and Inga was finding it difficult to stay awake. She had hardly slept a wink all night and she found herself constantly revisiting the events that had occurred. The arguing, the possible marriage arrangements, how Sigurd had looked directly at her while stating that he had a wife in mind. All of it made Inga feel uneasy, especially how she had stared at Ivar.

It was an odd tendency that she had. She would look into the eyes of the person that she was trying to learn more about. Her father had always told her that if you into a man's eyes, you will find everything. And so that's what she did. She would blend into the background, and try to be ignored. Then she would observe and she would learn everyone's secrets. She could use them to grow closer to a person or she could use them to hurt a person. She tried her best to refrain from offending people, but in some cases, it was her only way to get people to shut up.

Ivar however was a different story. Most people tended to be hard to crack open, she found that some people were just really good at hiding their feelings and thoughts. She expected Ivar to be like that, but to her amazement, she found that he was as vulnerable as a little baby.

Ivar always held looks of anger and sadness on his face, and while most people learned to just see them as they were, Inga worked for many years to figure out the petty differences between each face and how to tell his mood. She learned how to identify people's emotions based on how their eyes looked. She learned to think with her mind. And it seemed to her that her mind was saying that Ivar was hiding something.

At dinner she had locked eyes with him. Only for a few seconds, but she had locked eyes with him. And she had seen something. It looked like insecurity and fear. The way he held Margarethe's hand, the way he spoke to Sigurd, and the way he had looked angry when Sigurd had brought Inga into the conversation with a glance. It all pointed to something.

Ivar didn't love Margarethe and she didn't love him. He was holding her close because she knew something and he was fearing that his brother's would find out. And it probably had to do something with the night he had spent with Margarethe.

She didn't find it necessary to say anything, she felt that when the time came she would reveal what she knew. But at the same time, she felt the need to talk to him. To help him not feel alone and know that there was at least one person who wouldn't judge him.

She held her head in her hands, beginning to feel a headache start to take over. She felt her eyes drooping, but she knew that she had to keep working. She needed to stay awake, but all her thoughts were bombarding her brain. She worked slowly, but she tried her best not to fall asleep.

After a few minutes of working, Inga felt her headache loosen up a bit and she noticed that the sun was shining outside. She stood still for a second before realizing that the fresh air might do her good.

She stepped outside of the hall and began to take a small walk. There wasn't a bird or cloud in the sky and the tall trees seemed to be swaying in the breeze. Inga felt captivated in the beauty of everything and she was beginning to feel more awake. She thought about heading off into the forest to pick some herbs, but she was interrupted by someone and she felt herself get shoved behind a hut. It was Ivar.

"What do you want?" She asked feeling a dash of annoyance sweep through her, "If you wanted something, why push me aside to talk?"

He looked up at her with his normal look of disgust and anger, but she noticed a hint of curiosity. He wanted something, but it wasn't going to be something usual.

"You look curious," She pointed out, "What's on your mind?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Exactly what you just said."

"You're curious? About what? I'm just a slave, there must be something you're misunderstanding," She replied anxiously.

He smirked, "Of course I'm curious. You have a secret and you're hiding it. You aren't just the little slave girl who loves to help people, your actions say something completely different."

She looked at him for a split second before turning away, "Is that so? And perhaps I'm not the only one who has secrets, I know you are hiding something as well. And I know what it is."

Inga watched as his face flashed a look of surprise, but then simmered back into its usual angry glare, "How do you know?"

"Your eyes say it all," She responded, "You are so easy to read, not much of a challenge at all. I know that you are only keeping her close because something happened between the two of you when you slept together."

"How do you know about that!? Someone's eyes can't tell you things!" He grumbled beginning to look more agitated.

"You don't seem to understand. I don't have anything against you or the things that you do. I just wanted to explain myself and help you to understand what may be interesting you," She replied, "You are right about there being more to me, I have a very shaded past and I have learned to use people to my advantage."

His face calmed a bit and he looked at her in awe for a second, almost like he thought she would tell him her past, "What you say is true, about me and Margarethe. But I want you to know, that if you tell any of my brothers, I will kill you. I don't care if my mother appreciates you and got along with your family, I will kill you if you tell."

Inga just smiled, "I don't tell other people's secrets. If someone wants to know, they have to figure out themselves. I don't find you any less of a man or a warrior, I want you to know that I respect you. Perhaps one day I will tell you about my past, if you are really that curious. I do enjoy serving others, but I also enjoy breaking my enemies, though at this time, I don't have any."

Inga watched as he pursed his lips and eyed her for a second, "You're crazy," he finally stated, "You are crazy and at the same time, you are a genius."

She snorted, "And you aren't crazy? And you aren't a genius? I don't think you understand how phenomenal you are."

He just rolled his eyes and continued to stare at her with his sharp, blue eyes, looking her over, "I want you as my special slave," he finally said, "You know my secret, I have already warned Margarethe about the consequences and I got my enjoyment out of annoying Sigurd, so I want you as my special slave."

Inga looked at him astonished, "You want me as your special slave?"

He nodded, a grin playing on his face, "Yes. So that someday I can learn your past and you can teach me how to break my enemies."

"You already know how to, you can fight. I use different methods because I can't fight."

"Then I shall teach you."

She looked at him with her eyes wide, "You will?"

He gave her a quick nod, "Of course. I guess it is kind of a trade in a way. You become my special slave and tell me what I want to know, and in return you learn to fight."

She looked at him for a quick second before nodding, "Fine. It's a deal."

It was later in the day and Ivar was pulling himself through the road in search of one of this brothers. He was hoping to find someone to talk to about what he had just done. Not to brag, but to confess about how stupid he thought his actions had been, what had made him do that?

He had had a conversation in mind, but upon seeing her he had panicked and pushed her aside and then asked her to be his slave, all while finding that her intriguing eyes _had_ seen something. She knew his secret and then he felt the need to let his guard down and 'keep an eye' on the girl he could actually trust his secret with and allow Margarethe her 'freedom.' He was beginning to doubt his intelligence and he wondered if he had some sort of weakness towards Inga.

He continued his way down the road, pulling himself as fast as he could. Finally, he reached the hall and flung the doors open to find his brother, Ubbe, talking to a slave girl.

He watched as the slave's face flashed a look of fear before uttering a good-bye to Ubbe and running off.

"What was that all about?" Ivar asked Ubbe.

Ubbe smiled, "Just an interesting girl. Mother wants me to have a wife, and well you took Margarethe, so I've been meeting some of the other slaves and…."

Ivar grumbled something to himself and then brought his attention back to his brother, "I changed my special slave, it is no longer Margarethe."

Ubbe raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

Ivar snorted, "I wish I knew. I changed my mind earlier today. Inga took Margarethe's place, but I don't know why I made that decision."

"Perhaps it is because…you are in love."

Ivar just rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't call it love, but it's certainly something. She's just so intriguing. Her eyes, there's something about them…there's something about her. She isn't really what she says she is. She's smarter, she's stronger, she's…darker."

"Darker?"

"It's hard to explain, but she can see things."

"Oh c'mon!" Ubbe exclaimed, "Everybody who has working eyes can see things!"

"I don't mean it like that. She can see or sense things that nobody else can. Secrets and truths. She can spot lies and emotions. I don't tend to be someone who is ever afraid of anything, but I've noticed that she can be a little frightening."

"But you like her? Right?"

Ivar shrugged, "I believe I do. I'm just really curious and I feel like she might be able to understand me. And she seems like a very loyal person and well, I told her I would train her, she has the stance and mind of a berserker."

Ubbe looked at his brother astonished, "Train her?" he asked seeming confused, "This story just keeps getting more and more complicated."

"You are only making it complicated by convincing yourself that it is complicated. It's not that hard to understand. I'm interested and intrigued with her, so she is mine now."

Ubbe rolled his eyes, "She's not yours, Inga is a human being. But nonetheless, I understand now." Ivar watched as his brother downed a horn of ale and turned to leave the room, but Ivar stopped him.

"I feel different."

Ubbe turned around, an expression of confusion playing on his face, "Different?"

"Being around her makes me feel different. Like I don't have to pretend. Like I don't have to work hard to prove myself to be an equal. Like I'm understood…is that what love feels like?"

"Love? Yes, love can feel like that, but it can be very different. I've heard that Freya works her magic in some of the most hidden and unusual ways. So I can't really be sure. But if what you're saying is true, it could be that you like Inga or that you're happy."

"Happy? But I'm not a happy person."

"But perhaps she is. Maybe she brings out the better in you." And with that Ubbe turned and left Ivar sitting alone. He felt alone and confused about what Ubbe had just said, but Ivar tried desperately to understand. Happiness? Love? He wasn't that kind of person and he never could be, but it would make sense. Inga treated him and made him feel things that nobody else did. She was unique and intriguing, discovering the truth about her excited him and when he thought about her, all the anger he had seemed to float away.

Ivar sat in silence for a minute before deciding to head to his room. He had to find Inga and he had to get ready for dinner. His room was connected to the hall, behind the thrones and lined up next to the rooms of his mother and brothers. He pulled himself slowly to his room and paused by his door. With a sigh he pushed his door open. Inga was standing in his room.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as he cast her a rude look of confusion.

"I'm your special slave, I've been working."

"Working?"

She nodded, "Yes, working. I added some wood to your fire place, I brought in a bucket of water, I made your bed, I hung up your weapons, I collected all of your dirty clothes and sent them off to be washed, and now I'm weaving you a blanket."

He looked at her astonished, "You did all that in just a few hours? I made you my special slave this morning and here you are having done all these chores and it isn't even dinner."

She laughed, "I'm glad that my work has pleased you, but don't look so surprised. This is my job as a slave, special or not."

"Well it seems that so far I've made a good decision. I have only one thing to ask of you though."

"What?"

"I will need you to accompany me at dinner."

She raised an eyebrow, "I'm a slave, and besides, I have nothing nice to wear."

"You have plenty of things to wear, that dress you wore the other day was fine, just wear another one like it."

She shrugged, "I suppose, I just don't know if I really feel comfortable eating dinner with your family."

"And why is that?"

"There is so much tension at the table, do you even realize how strange it feels to sit there and watch all of this happen. Where you and Sigurd bicker at each other while your mother tries to lecture you all and respond to unkind comments from Sigurd, while Ubbe sits there but is really worrying about you taking the arguing a step too far, and then there's Hvitserk, who is too selfish to care about defending anyone. What kind of family is like that?"

Ivar chuckled, "Plenty of families are like that. I'm surprised your family wasn't like this. So what was your family like?"

She froze and just looked at Ivar a look of fear playing on her face, "I…I'd rather not…"

"Tell me."

She bit her lip, nervous to tell, "Well we all got along. My mother and father never got the chance to learn to love each other, but they stayed together because of me. I never had any siblings and there was hardly ever any arguing, my father used to teach me small things like how to swing a sword, how to shoot an arrow. We all spent time together and our lives were happy. As a child I thought that everything in my life would be great, but then my father died."

"And that is how you met my mother."

"In a way, it is. But it is a very long story."

"I'm sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable, but the deal was that you would be my special slave and you would tell me about your past."

"But what about your end of the bargain?" She asked, "You have yet to teach me any self-defense."

"Well from your story it seems that you have at least some idea of what to do."

She rolled her eyes, "I was young then. I know I am a slave, but we made a deal, I would like to begin training at least sometime soon."

He looked up her, "We will train when I have the time, but right now, you must get ready to accompany me at dinner. Ok?"

She gave him a small nod, "Of course."

He watched as she turned to leave the room, but he stopped her before she could leave, "Don't be mad at me."

She laughed, "You think I'm mad at you? If only you had the skill that I have. Then you would know when I really am mad. Because when I'm mad, the whole world shakes and suffers."

The last words of her sentence sent shivers up Ivar's spine. He watched as she turned and left. She was such an odd and opinionated slave, but something about her made him want to kiss her. Perhaps it was her sanity that attracted him. She appeared to be sane, but behind her mask of a face, lied the real her, and he wanted to see it, because he himself was far from sane, he just didn't know how to hide it.

He pulled himself up onto his bed and sighed. He didn't know how to feel, and considering what had happened between him and Margarethe, he knew there was no way he could ever consider being with a woman again, not even through marriage or a silly little kiss.

He sat staring at the fire, trying to get his mind off of things, but in the fire all he saw was Inga's red hair blowing around, and the blue towards the center, while not the color of her actual eyes, staring back at him with a piercing glare. He had heard people tell awful tales claiming that his mother bewitched his father, and while he didn't believe those particular stories, he was beginning to wonder if Inga had bewitched him. He hardly knew her, but something about her kept drawing him to her, and he couldn't escape it.

Biting his lip, he turned away from the fire and pulled himself off his bed. He had to get ready for dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**I forgot to mention this before, but DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE VIKINGS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER OWN INGA.**

 **And as always I hope you all enjoy and I will always be open to feedback.**

After getting dressed and ready for dinner, Inga met up with Ivar back in his room. When she came in, she found him sitting up on his bed staring at the fire. He appeared to be dressed and cleaned up for dinner, but at the same time he looked to be frozen, just watching the flames. She debated on what to do before deciding to go and sit down beside him.

When she sat down, it seemed to really shake him from his trance. He seemed surprised and a look of shock danced in his eyes. It didn't make sense to her as to why he always got a look of surprise on his face when he saw her, she never tried to be particularly intriguing or surprising. And what to lead him to suspect that she too was hiding things?

"Are you ready for dinner?" She finally said, all while locking eyes with him.

He gave her a small nod and slowly began to pull himself to the floor, "I suppose."

"I have question, though," she said, "Why exactly do I have to attend dinner? I understand I'm a slave and I serve you specifically, but I'm not a slave in the sense that Margarethe was. I'm not here for you to pretend you love me and for you to flash me off to your brothers. So why invite me?"

He looked up at her, "I'm not sure, perhaps I just want someone to sit with. And if Margarethe held the same position as you, aren't you responsible for carrying out the same job?" He said smirking, "I know you enjoy working, but just spend at least another night eating dinner with us. It can't be that bad? Can it?" he asked jokingly.

She rolled her eyes, "I guess not."

The two walked down to the hall together, quietly and swiftly. There obviously wasn't much distance between the hall and their chambers, but it seemed to take forever, silence seemed never-ending. Until Ivar finally said something as they entered the room and found that they were the only ones there.

"I need to tell you something, before my brothers and mother show up."

She raised an eyebrow, not out of amusement and sarcasm, but out of nervousness, "What? You are always coming to me saying things like that and you always worry me. I don't need that."

"It's nothing bad, I just thought that I should tell you before I tell anyone else."

"What?"

Ivar gave her a huge smirk, "I will be leaving to go raiding with my father soon. I understand that this will be a bit of a challenge for me, but my father trusts me and I need to do this."

Inga gaped at this news, her eyes wide, "When did you plan this?"

He shrugged, "About a night or two ago, I was out on the thrones with…"

Inga interrupted him, "Then why didn't you tell me sooner, and why did you make me your special slave if you were planning on leaving in the first place?"

"I'm coming back, you can just serve my mother until I do."

Inga was silent. "Don't tell me that you think I'm going to die," Ivar grumbled, "I need at least one person to believe in me."

"I believe that you can do this, but I can't help but be concerned. Your mother would be heartbroken if you died. Everyone would be."

He laughed, "Not everyone. There are very few people who actually consider themselves friends of mine, but if you are that concerned, then believe me when I say that I won't die."

"When will you tell your mother?"

"Tomorrow, I wanted to tell someone, but I wanted to hold off telling my mother because I don't want to worry her for too long."

"But you are going to tell her? Right?" Inga asked.

Ivar gave her a small nod, "Yes. Eventually."

All of a sudden the doors swung open and the other Lothbrok brothers came in and sat down. Soon after, they were followed by the queen, and then Margarethe and a few of the other slave girls, who seemed to look super enthused about Inga being seated right next to Ivar.

She swallowed a feeling of nervousness washing over her. She watched as everyone seemed to fall into place and everything fell into its normal rhythm, even though nothing was really…normal. Ivar had told her that he would be leaving, she was sitting in the spot Margarethe had just occupied only a day ago, and for some reason they were all eating together before the rest of Bjorn's men showed up. She was beginning to wonder if everyone had lost their common sense.

"So, Hvitserk?" Aslaug said turning to face her son, "Are you excited to be meeting with Bjorn's men?"

He gave his mother a nod and went back to eating. To Inga it appeared that they were eating together to catch up before everyone showed up, but as of the pace of their slow, quiet conversations she found it completely unnecessary and extremely annoying that they all had to be here.

But just as she was beginning to have regrets, Ivar jumped into the conversation, a smug look on his face, "I have some news everyone."

"Sure you do," Sigurd replied sarcastically. Ivar just glared up at him.

"I do. If you have all noticed, Inga is here with me. She works for me now. Margarethe may be beautiful, but I want something that none of you can have. I want someone interesting. So I hope you all are happy for me. Are you happy Sigurd?"

Sigurd snorted, "Sure. I'm happy that you're forcing yet another girl to pretend to love you."

"You don't speak for Inga," Ivar responded, gritting his teeth, "You cannot assume that she feels a certain way."

"He has a point," Ubbe intervened, "She is a slave, but slaves are people."

Sigurd opened his mouth, as if to protest, but before he could speak, the doors to the halls opened and Bjorn Lothbrok came striding in followed by a large mass crowd of men, shield maidens, Earl Ingstad, and King Harald and his brother, Halfdan. Everyone at the table went silent, until Aslaug stood up and said a few words to the crowd.

Soon everyone had dispersed throughout the hall and Sigurd had took it upon himself to move and find somewhere else to feast. Ubbe and Hvitserk were holding a conversation with Bjorn, King Harald, and Halfdan. It even appeared as though Aslaug was enjoying herself, talking amongst her sons and the men Bjorn had invited along.

Eventually Bjorn brought over King Harald and his brother to reintroduce to everyone. From her small seat at Ivar's side, she watched as the group of men laughed and reflected on the last time they had seen each other. All the while, Ivar sat, and no one seemed to notice that there were only three Lothbrok brothers standing.

"When I stand, I am just as tall," Ivar remarked. From his tone, Inga couldn't tell if it was a joke or if he was trying to be serious and make himself sound tough.

"I bet you wish you could raid with us," Halfdan noted, a look of pity forming in his eyes. Inga could feel the tension building and Ivar's hand gripping hers intensely. But as quickly as it came, Ivar responded to his remark with a raise of his glass and a simple…

"Go to hell."

This brought up quite a few laughs, but the conversation still kept on. Inga fought back a laugh, it had been so instant and at the same time so calm, the expression on his face had been priceless. At least he knew how to brush off a few insults from 'strangers.'

"Did you find that amusing?" He asked her with a grin.

"It was sudden. I was expecting more of an outburst, but instead you responded with 'go to hell.' Oh course I'm going to be amused. He got what was coming."

He smiled at her before turning to his left and whispering something to his mother, his eyes appeared to be on Earl Ingstad. Inga watched as the Queen stood and went to say something to the Earl. Inga and Ivar watched curiously as the two interacted. What was being said?

After a minute, Queen Aslaug weaved back through the crowd, whispered something into Ivar's ear and then walked away.

"What was that all…"

Ivar stopped her, "I have a question."

"Alright then…" She said rolling her eyes at his rude gesture, "What is your question?"

"Do you like sacrifices?"

Her eyes widened at the thought, "I love sacrifices! They are so beautiful, I love to imagine what happens when you die and are claimed by Odin and his Valkyries. It's interesting to think that when you die, Midguard is beneath you and Valhalla, above. And that for once, you are caught between two worlds, and in truth, you are nothing. And then you are lifted higher, and then everything is normal. You are you, just in a new, wonderful, and rewarding world. It's a lot to think about, but it's a beautiful thought. One that I hope to experience for real one day."

He gazed at her face contently, "I wasn't expecting such a deep answer, but if you like sacrifices, you're in luck. Mother will be performing one."

"Really?"

He smiled, a look of excitement gleaming in his eyes, "Why would I lie about something, I too, am very compassionate about? Hmm?"

She grinned, "Well then, let's finish eating and go watch a soul be freed."

The rest of the night went by. Small talk, some gaps of cold silence, lots of food and drink, music, and before long…a sacrifice.

People gathered in groups outside. Inga stayed by Ivar's side, concerned about getting lost in the large crowd of people who were urgent to watch the sacrifice take place.

Everyone formed a path between the crowd, and suddenly two men began to lead a goat down the path to be killed. It was dark and the torches burned, chants echoed through the nights, and the loud drums vibrated through Kattegat.

It seemed like years passed before the small animal reached the Queen. Guiding the sword, the Queen presented it to the crowd and then with a gentle motion, slit the goat. Holding up the animal, she collected the blood of the animal in her bowl and went about the people, blessing everyone. Some took the blood with shock, others with pure joy. Inga stood watching in awe, and at the same time, with excitement.

Ivar grabbed her by the hand and pulled her forward toward the table where a larger basket of the animal's blood sat. She watched as he stuck his fingers in the bowl with a smirk and then drew markings on his face. She watched his eyes light up with excitement, and before long he had even proceeded to drink the blood.

Inga simply stood, silently laughing to herself, but not paying close enough attention. Within seconds, Ivar grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. He took his bloody fingers and tried to decorate her face, a look of playfulness dancing in his eyes. She tried to squirm away, but she gave in and let the blood cake her skin.

It was later that night and Ivar was in his bed, pondering upon what had just happened that night. He didn't know how to explain what he was feeling, but he knew whatever it was, he liked. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. He could hear the thunder booming outside and lightning cracking across the sky.

Suddenly he heard the door to his room being pushed open. He sat up and found himself staring at a very worried looking Inga. She was wearing a thin night gown and her hair was draped over her shoulders. Something about her appearance made him feel unsteady.

"What do you want?" He asked her. His voice was somewhat harsh.

She managed a weak smile, "I can't sleep, I thought maybe since you want to learn more about my past, I'd tell you something and then you could possibly help me out."

"Help you out?"

"As I said, I can't sleep. The storm is keeping me awake."

He cast her a confused look, "What do you mean? Don't you like Thor?"

She nodded, "Of course I do, it's just that this storm brings up some upsetting memories. Can you help me?"

He looked at her for a moment, "You can stay in here, but just for tonight. But first you must tell me why you are so afraid of the storm."

She smiled up at him, "Thank you so much! You see, I love storms, but they always remind me of my father."

"Your father?"

"Yes, my father. He used to go out and drink with his friends, and some nights I would stay up and wait for him. On one particular night, during a thunderstorm, my father was gone a long time, and I stayed up the whole night waiting for him. My mother and I were worried, we didn't want to believe that he was gone. I kept expecting to see him running through the rain to our house, as always. And then we could all get on with our lives, but that didn't happen. He was killed and for what seemed like weeks, that's all we could think about, that he was dead."

"How did he die?" Ivar asked, his eyes were wide with curiosity.

"His friend was drunk and they started arguing. My father was never the type of man to resort to violence while amongst friends, but when his friends were drunk, they seemed to have no control of themselves. His friend pulled out a knife and their argument got heated very fast. And before long, my father was dead. My mother and I went and found his body. I will never forget the sight of it, how it haunts me to this day. I wear this necklace," She said, "It was my father's." She pulled out a piece of what looked like rope that had a rune tied to the end, "My father was called Dagaz, like the rune I am wearing. It was said that a wanderer who resembled Odin, saved my father from dying while his mother died giving birth to him. I always wear it to remember my father, but also to remember what could happen."

"Do you fear the dead? Is that why you are afraid to remember?"

She laughed, "Only a fool would fear or be upset over the dead. I wear it to be aware of the living. Because anything can happen to you, anyone can turn on you. Even if the gods have big plans for you, that can all be ended by just one living man. My father's story tells me just that, and my whole life, remembering his death has kept out of trouble…well not completely…"

He raised an eyebrow, "Not completely? What do you mean by that?"

"That, I'm afraid, is a story for another day," She responded. She looked up at him, waiting for a response.

"And hopefully I will live to hear that story." She smiled at him.

"I hope so too. Now…about you helping me, is it alright if I sleep on the floor?"

He pursed his lips, pondering something, "Why not come up here on the bed." He watched as her face started to redden.

"Well…I…I…don't kno…know about that?" She sputtered. He just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I'm not going to do anything to you. I'd be a fool to do that."

She nodded, "Alright then." He watched as she slowly made her way across the room and sat down on the edge of his bed. Her eyes were bright and he could see goosebumps on her skin. She smiled at him, as if to bid him goodnight, and laid back and turned to face away from him.

He pretended to close his eyes, but he knew he wouldn't be able to actually sleep. After he was certain that she was sleeping soundly, he turned to face her back. He stared at her, her red hair, fiery and bright in contrast to her pale skin, her body, rising and falling with each breath. He didn't know what to feel about the situation, but he felt curious. This was an experience that he had never had before.

After a minute of looking her over to make sure she looked comfortable enough, Ivar turned back to face the wall of his room. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep to the peaceful breathing of Inga.


	5. Chapter 5

**I really hope that you guys are enjoying my story so far, again, feel free to comment your opinion and I am open to suggestions. If anyone seems to be out of character, just tell me and I will work on that in the future.**

Ivar awoke the next morning, only to find that Inga was gone. He was surprised, but at the same time he understood that she still had a job to do, special servant or not.

He got ready and went about his day. He ate his fill of breakfast and after saying goodbye to Hvitserk, he headed off to find his father to help him with something. He didn't know what his father needed him for, but Ivar felt it necessary to find Inga and take her with him. He wasn't going to have much time with her until he left, and he wanted to make it last.

He crawled through town hoping to spot her somewhere, but he couldn't find her. "Odd," he noted, "She is normally in town working. Did she go to the forest? That couldn't have happened, it is too early. So where did she go?" He surveyed around him, turning his head in all directions. Finally, something caught his eye. It was his father.

"Ivar!" His father called, "Are you coming, we need to get to digging!"

Ivar dragged himself over to his father, "I need to find Inga."

"Inga? Why do you need to find Inga Magnusdottir?"

"You know her?"

His father nodded, "I grew up with her mother. Why are you looking for her?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ivar chuckled, "Odd as it is, she sold herself into slavery after her mother died. She is my special slave, she works specifically for me, and so I was looking for her to come along with us to help."

"We don't need her, let her work. I'm sure you'll see her later."

Ivar nodded slowly, "I suppose."

"And why the long face?" Ragnar asked slyly, eyeing his son, "Do you have feelings for her?"

He shrugged at his father, "I am not sure, but I do enjoy her company. Are you at all familiar with her past?"

Ragnar smirked, "I am. I was still here ruling as King when her father died. She went through a lot. But I'm in no place to tell you what exactly happened after her father's death. That is something you'd have to ask her."

"She keeps telling me to wait. She may be different, but to be honest, her whole 'I want to help' gimmick makes her seem dull and weak. If she is so content on helping everyone and being loyal, then why does she hide her past? For someone so kind, it doesn't seem to me that she could ever do anything bad."

His father laughed, "Just you wait. Everything you think you know about her is a lie. She may seem dull and weak, but she is very smart. She does care about people, but at the same time, she pretends to be dull and acts as though she isn't there so that she can observe people and use them to her advantage. She is able to piece together the truth with very little evidence. She is definitely an ally you want. Anyone would be lucky to have any sort of connection to her."

Ivar looked at his father for a second, trying to process everything, "So she's manipulative?" He wondered.

His father shook his head, "No. She's not manipulative or evil. She isn't heartless or cruel or full of rage. She is just messed up. She is full of tricks, secrets, and lies. She is so insecure about how other's will perceive her that she bottles up all her emotions and tries to act as though her past never occurred."

Ivar nodded, "Then no wonder I enjoy her company. I am insane, but also angry and lonely. She is that to an extent, but she is sane enough to help me stay under control. She can shield the both of us."

Ragnar grinned, "Good. You are using your head, trying to discover the truth, finally a son who will carry on my legacy," Ragnar joked, "It is important to be a good warrior, but it is even more important to use your head to its true potential."

Ivar smiled, his father was saying that he was smart, something he wasn't often told, "I promise you, I will be a good partner on our raid, but hopefully it won't be just the two of us."

"That is why we are going digging," Ragnar motioned for his son to follow and the two began to walk out through the forest and up a hill. When they reached the top, Ragnar surveyed his surroundings until he noticed the place of his treasures, "We shall bribe them. Then we will have all the men we need."

Ivar smirked, "Well then, let's get to digging."

It was later in the day, and Inga was back. She was sitting beside Ivar up on the thrones watching as the other slaves worked, she hated not being able to get up and work alongside them, but at the same time she was growing accustomed to sitting with Ivar.

She watched as the Queen entered the room and looked around. When she noticed Ivar she smiled at him and walked up to him, "What are you doing Ivar?"

He was hesitant, but eventually he responded, "I am going with father." He paused, a huge grin on his face.

She was silent for a moment, a look of disbelief on her face, almost like she hoped his words were a joke, "What do you mean?"

"I am leaving to go with father."

She bit her lip, "Tell your father that I need to speak with him," She looked at Ivar, you could see the frustration in her eyes, "He can't keep avoiding me." She turned her head furiously and walked out of the room.

"See what I mean," Ivar grumbled, "I didn't want to worry or upset her for that matter. That's why I was holding it off."

"Maybe she is really just mad because you waited so long to tell her," Inga retorted.

Ivar rolled his eyes, "Early, late, on time…it doesn't matter. I told her, it's been said and the conversation is done. So why nag me about this when you have some explaining of your own?"

Inga looked at him surprised, "What do you mean?" She inquired.

"You were gone when I woke up in the morning. I waited a while, but did not see you working or cleaning. It was almost like you had vanished. You see, I was looking for you to take along with me, I thought maybe you would want to help me do something for my father, yet I couldn't find you. So you better do some explaining."

She turned away to face the window, "I don't want to worry you."

"Why?" He asked staring at her intensely.

She didn't respond for a moment, but slowly turned back to face him, "I don't want to worry you because I think Kattegat might be in danger and if you go, you won't be able to defend it."

"Why do you think this? Where did you go?" He urged, leaning closer to her.

"Earl Ingstad invited me to Hedeby. I went because, well, it's an honor to be noticed and offered an invitation from such a woman. She seemed very friendly, but she wanted something. She told me that if I ever needed her help, she would come to my aid, but she would expect me to repay her. She asked if I would be interested in helping her pull out some plan of hers. She didn't tell me much about it, but I can't help but think that she is plotting to take Kattegat."

"And what did you tell her?" Ivar asked curiously.

"I told her no."

He was silent, "I don't want to help her overthrow anyone, especially not your mother. I don't trust her. She clearly has been wanting revenge for some time now. With Hvitserk gone, and with you going to England, all she has to do is lure your Ubbe and Sigurd away, and she practically has control of the whole village."

"Then I must not go…" Ivar protested.

"No! You must!"

He looked at her astonished, her yelling was beginning to draw attention from the other slaves, "You said it yourself, you need to do this. You need this, Ivar. You deserve this," She whispered.

He nodded, "I am going to go out and watch my father load up the ship, I have something at the blacksmith's I must go get in a few hours, so be sure to go with my mother and brothers to the dock later and wish me goodbye."

She smiled, "I will. Is there anything I can do for the time being? Workwise I mean."

"Do what you like. You may have sold yourself into slavery, but that is not who you are. So while I'm gone, protect my mother, but don't worry about tending to my room. Honestly, I wouldn't care if I came back and found it burnt to a crisp."

She smiled at him a genuine smile, "Alright then. I'll see you later."

Inga sat by herself, sewing up a hole in one of the Queen's dresses. While Ivar had told her that she didn't have to do any work, she had found herself bored and couldn't resist the task of helping the other slaves. She knew that while some of the slaves had begun to soften more towards her, seeing that she was normal enough to admit to caring about Ivar to them, a few of the slaves still despised her.

She worked quickly and quietly, avoiding the other girls' gaze, but occasionally locking eyes with a few. But no matter what, nobody seemed to say anything, until Tuva spoke up.

"Does he like you?" She murmured quietly. She barely even looked up at Inga, almost as if afraid to ask.

"I think so," Inga responded simply. A few of the slaves exchanged looks.

"Has anything happened between you?" Brunhilde questioned.

Inga rolled her eyes, "And why do you want to know, Brunhilde? Are you still thinking that our relationship is going to be one big, love story that is famous throughout Norway?" She chuckled.

"No, that's not why I'm wondering. I just thought I'd ask because, well I'm sure everyone would like to know what he's like."

A couple of the other slaves nodded along with her, "You are all so nosy," Inga remarked, "But I can't control that…so I suppose you can all try and ask me, I can't guarantee that I'll respond, though." A few of the slaves lit up, this was to be their entertainment.

"So tell us, has anything happened."

Inga smirked, "No. Not yet at least. And even if we had, would you really expect for me to tell you all about it?" She asked, teasing Brunhilde.

She simply shook her head, "Of course I didn't expect you to share such things, but it was worth asking about."

"Is he kind?" A younger slave asked.

Inga cast the girl a smile, "He is quite kind. He just has a hard time showing it sometimes."

"But does he scare you?" Tuva finally blurted out, sending everyone to a hushed halt. The room seemed vastly empty, no one speaking, no one daring to work, all waiting for an answer.

"Yes," She finally managed, looking around, "But…that is why I like him."

No one said anything, her answer had been so bizarre. She had practically told them that she liked Ivar because he was crazy, because she feared him. Everyone stared emptily, until the doors to the hall were flung open and Ubbe came in and broke the silence.

"Our father will be leaving soon, I came to tell you that if you want to say goodbye, that it would be a good idea to come with me and wait."

She nodded in his direction, cast the other slaves a small smile, and lifted herself up off of her stool, "Alright then," She told him, a look of nervousness beginning to form on her face. Ivar was to leave and she didn't know how to feel about that.

She followed Ubbe out of the hall and through the market, winding past crowd after crowd until she could see ships out in the water, and the red of the Queen's dress. She found Aslaug and Sigurd standing out by Ragnar's ships patiently waiting for Ivar to make an appearance. She followed Ubbe out to the dock where she stood herself next to the Queen. She tried to make herself as unnoticeable as possible, but she couldn't help but lock eyes with Ragnar who motioned for her to come over to him.

She walked up to him, slowly, unsure of what to say. It had been almost ten years since she had last seen him. He had left only a few months after her father had died, and while she knew that he cared for her and her mother, she couldn't help but feel the betrayal that everyone else had felt, knowing that he had left.

He looked at her, a smile forming on his face, his eyes crinkling. "Inga it has been far too long…" He trailed.

She nodded, "I agree, I have not seen you in quite some time."

"I heard about what happened to your mother, I'm sorry."

She managed a weak smile, "I appreciate your condolences, but there is no need for you to worry, she passed almost three years ago, so I have thankfully been able to get over her absence."

"I know that you have moved on, I just felt it necessary to say something, she and I were very close. We grew up together, she knew me and my brother and Floki when we were just children. I almost wish that I would've come back sooner, knowing that I won't see her until I get to Valhalla."

"I'm sure you will her see her someday, for now, you are just stuck with me," Inga joked, "I'm glad that you are back and I hope your raid to England goes well. Be sure to keep Ivar safe."

He laughed, "Don't worry, I think I know how to keep my own son safe!" He gripped his beard, brushing it down, and then turned off to look to the water, "He better get here soon, while the waters are still friendly."

She grinned up at him and exchanged a hug before stepping back into her position next to the Queen. She waited only another minute before she noticed a path clear between the clumps of men in the market, it seemed as though someone was coming…and it was Ivar. Only he wasn't crawling.

It appeared as though Ivar had his arms tied to wooden crutches and he was trying to walk himself to the dock. A part of Inga wanted to feel happy for him, but a deep fear rest inside her, she didn't want him to get hurt or make a fool of himself.

As she turned to look at Queen Aslaug, she saw the hope in her eyes, hope that her son might have a chance of surviving. Inga watched as Ivar neared the dock, but she started to notice him losing his balance. When he reached the dock, he found that he had to step up. She watched as he unsteadily placed his crutches on the wood and swung his legs up, and to her surprise, he kept going. She watched as he trudged on, until one of his crutches got stuck and when he pulled up his crutch, the bond holding his right arm to the right crutch unraveled and he landed on a sack with a loud thump.

Inga could see the Queen's worry and urge to go help him up, but Aslaug did nothing, allowing her son to have a moment without her constant suffocation. Ragnar stood with a bit of a pained look on his face, almost like he wanted Ivar to hurry up, Ubbe stood with a look of uncertainly, and Sigurd stood with a look that made Inga's skin crawl.

Sigurd was smiling at Ivar's defeat. And while she knew that the two clearly didn't get along, it still horrified her to see the way the two treated each other. She tried to avert her attention from Sigurd, back to Ivar, who was still determined to get to the ship, and switched into crawling over. After a few seconds, he had successfully made it to the ship where his father patted him on the back and mumbled something to him.

Inga felt Ubbe reach out and tap her on the shoulder, he cast her a look and motioned for her to go say goodbye to Ivar. Swiftly, Inga stepped forward and approached Ivar, a grimace on his face. She smiled at him and bent over the ship to face him.

"Do not let what just happened get in your way. I know that you will do just fine crawling. I pray that the gods will allow you and your father to get revenge on Wessex for destroying our settlement. Good luck."

Ivar let out a sigh, trying to make himself look as hopeful as possible, but almost instantly, his face switched back to its normal look of anger. It was because he was now noticing Sigurd's cruel look of amusement. She didn't know what to do in response to the situation, but it seemed as though in that moment, that a switch flicked on. And it was almost like an urge, an urge to do something, an urge to draw his attention from Sigurd. An urge for his attention to be on her, the attention she might never get from him again if he died. She leaned forward, cupping his face in her hands and kissed him.

It appeared to Inga as though she could not control her doing so, she had just kissed him without a thought, their lips meeting in a kiss that she never wanted to end. The world around her felt like nothing but a blur and all she could focus on was him. His lips were warm, and he had pressed one of his hands against her back, the other was against her head, a fistful of hair in his hand. She could sense surprise in him, but overall, she could feel all his emotions, his anger, sadness, and loneliness pouring out. In just one kiss, she felt like she understood him in a way she couldn't before. She didn't want the moment to ever end, but she knew it had to. Slowly she removed her hands from his face and she began to pull away, his arms still around her, their eyes locking.

He seemed very surprised when she pulled back, "What was that for?" He said, not out of anger, but out of pure confusion.

She smiled, "You asked me to say goodbye, so I did. And besides, I wanted to wipe that grin off of Sigurd's face."

He arched his eyebrow, "Is that so. Well then, goodbye Inga."

"C'mon," Ragnar said motioning to his son, "We have a tide to catch."

Inga took a step back and watched as Ivar crawled to the opposite end of the ship and took a seat. The ship was pushed off, and she watched as the men began to row, slowly leaving Kattegat, she looked Ivar over one last time, worried that it might be the last time she would see him. She already had a feeling that she would never see Ragnar again. Considering that she had an easy time reading people, she could always tell, even as a child, when Ragnar had a plan. She watched as the ship slowly disappeared until all she could see was the ocean.

She stood silent for a few seconds until she was sure it was gone, and then she turned back around and marched off the dock. She had to get back to work, now that Ivar was gone her jobs would go back to what they normally were, except now she would try to do any work that kept her as close to the Queen as possible. She didn't want anything to happen to her, not just for Ivar's sake, but for all of Kattegat's sake.

As Inga began to walk off, she felt someone reach out and grab her arm, freezing her in place. She swiveled around to find Ubbe staring back at her.

"What do you want?" She finally asked, eyeing him sharply.

He cocked his head to the side, "What do I want? Were you not just with me on the dock?"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh. So this is about me kissing your brother, isn't it?"

"How did you ever guess?" He teased, "Yes. I am wondering about that? I want to know why?"

"Are you jealous?"

He snorted, "No. I must admit, you're extremely beautiful, but I have no interest in taking you from my brother."

"Taking me? So I am just an object? What about your whole opinion that slaves are people too?"

He sighed, "You are a stubborn, you just won't crack, no wonder he likes you. I don't mean what I said to be offensive, I am just curious. You can trust me. I love my brother, and being the oldest, I want to be able to help him and look after him as much as I can. I was asking about the kiss because it seemed to come out of nowhere, he looked more surprised than you did, and to be honest, he was more surprised than I was."

She looked at him, a smirk on her face, "I did it because it felt right, I will not see Ivar for a while, maybe not ever again. And I didn't like the smug look on Sigurd's face. I understand that the two of them never really got along, but it still bothers me to see the way they treat each other."

Ubbe nodded, "I agree. Their fighting gets out of control sometimes, I always try to butt in, but often times I have no place trying to get involved. But I must warn you. I love Sigurd and I trust him, but often times, whatever Ivar has, Sigurd wants. I'm not saying that Sigurd will try to make any moves, but I would keep close watch on him if I were you."

Inga just brushed off his concern, "I do not fear your brother. Though he may fight with Ivar, he is not that bad of a man. And even if he did try to do anything, I would be sure to put an end to his life."

Ubbe turned his to hide his laughter, "You will fight him?!" He exclaimed, "You can't fight!"

She stared at him, erasing the grin from his face, "And how do you know I can't fight?" She asked, "Don't be so quick to judge me. There is more to me than you realize."

Ubbe studied her a moment, "Ivar mentioned something about that before. He said that he felt almost tranced by you. So he was telling the truth, he's fascinated with you because you are a mystery, because you are so hidden. You have a skill he does not possess, and that intrigues him. Interesting…love is so distorted. Don't you agree?"

She shrugged, "I suppose. Love is a good thing, until something happens to who or what you love. But as we grow we learn to expect that. All good things must come to an end. My father was a good man, but he was killed. Now grown, I know not to make the mistakes he did. So while love is interesting, good, and even a little distorted, I try to direct my attention away from love."

"So what do you focus on?"

She smiled, "Why should I tell you? By asking me, you are 'taking' something that belongs to your brother. I ask him favors, and in return he asks me a question that I must answer, but alas, it is just something for the two of us to share," She looked up to face him, he seemed a bit dazed by her words, "But forget what I say, just know that I am thankful for your warning."

He nodded, "Of course, anytime." She watched as he turned around and began to walk away, before he suddenly came to a halt and turned around, "Oh, and Inga?"

"Yes?" She asked.

"He slept with Margarethe. Supposedly he could not please her."

She looked at him for a moment, her face blank, "I already know that, but I do not care."

"But how?"

She smiled, "I always know. I can see everything, I see everything your eyes have to show."

He looked at her a second, before turning away, feeling a little anxious, "You are not a typical girl that is for sure, but you are a very loyal and intelligent person. If you ever need anything, come to me."

She nodded, "Of course." She watched as he walked off, disappearing into the crowd of people leaving her to think. She had told him that she wasn't 'normal' and had also earned a warning to look out for Sigurd. And as much as she doubted that Sigurd would try to do anything, she knew that if he did there was no denying that she would have to kill him. She just didn't want to, she had ended too many lives already and while she knew that in times of battle, it was okay to kill, she had promised herself to never kill a fellow Viking from Kattegat again. She didn't want to be the monster so many people strived to be. She didn't want to relive her childhood again, not after all she did to escape it.

 **So what did you guys think? Have any theories about Inga's past? Also, if that kiss between her and Ivar was really bad, then my apologies. I'm not very good at writing romance, I generally stick to fantasy/adventure stories that are of my own creation. Also, I am a teenager (I won't say my age, but I am younger than 16), so romance isn't really a thing I'm familiar with. But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, if that felt rushed, then I apologize. I just wanted to get that done so that I could get the next suspenseful chapter started tomorrow and then after that, Ivar could return to the chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6

Early the next day, Inga awoke and got dressed into a simple, cream colored dress. She snatched up a bucket, figuring that it would be a good idea to go pick herbs earlier in the day, so that it wouldn't interfere with her chores.

She exited the hall and started down the path, the market seemed empty, and everything was quiet. She looked off into the sky, the clouds were covering the sun and the air was cool. Looking around, she realized that she was more alone than she had thought. Even the birds seemed to be gone.

Entering the forest, she brushed off the odd feeling of dread and loneliness. She found a bush of mint and began to pick off one leaf at a time. The scent of mint was soothing, it was like a balm, washing away all her worries.

She continued through the forest, collecting anything of value that she could find. She was enjoying herself so much, that she began to lose track of time, and before long, she thought she could hear the chatter of Kattegat echoing through the forest.

She wanted to keep foraging, but if people were awake, she didn't want to keep anyone worried about her whereabouts. She looked her basket of herbs over before deciding to head back. She didn't think that she had been gone for very long, but she had gotten what she had needed.

Slowly, she began to walk back through the forest. She could hear people chattering in the markets, so she knew she couldn't be far. She enjoyed her moments to herself, but the more people she could hear, the better she felt. After her meeting with Earl Ingstad, Inga was concerned that Kattegat might be attacked. And although she tried to refrain from fighting, she wanted to be there to defend her people.

The sun peaked out from behind the clouds, the day seemed to be blooming into something breath-taking. She stopped for a moment just trying to soak up a minute of peace. It was still breezy outside, but she felt safe out in the air, almost like she had a minute to breathe and escape suffocation. She sighed and started to head back to town, she had to get back to work.

Inga was only a feet from town when she started hearing screaming and shouting. Swiftly, Inga rushed out of the forest and found herself staring at complete chaos. Shield maidens could be seen fighting all throughout Kattegat, they carried shields that matched Earl Ingstad, which clearly meant that they were under an attack.

Inga didn't know how to react, she had promised herself to avoid violence, but she had a feeling that she would have to fight back to stay alive. She stared into the distance, her eyes grazing over a shield maiden who was running straight towards her. She watched as the woman gained on her, and just as she got into reach, Inga ducked down and grabbed the woman's legs, bringing her to the ground. Inga wrestled the woman for her sword, and with ease, stabbed the woman right through the middle of her torso.

Slowly, she pulled the sword out of the woman's corpse. Inga didn't know if she should feel horrified or proud. She had just killed a woman, which was wrong, but something about what she had just done made her feel energized. She could feel adrenaline pumping, she couldn't contain her sudden urge to fight. She watched as another shield maiden ran at her.

She spotted a weak point where the woman was failing to cover her chest with her shield. Quickly, she grabbed the woman by the wrist, restraining her from being able to stab Inga, and slid her arm between the gap, landing a punch in the woman's stomach and leaving her curled up on the ground, Inga stabbed the woman though the heart, watching as the light left the woman's eyes. She had forgotten how nice it felt to kill.

She noticed that the dead woman had a knife tied to both of her ankles. With a smirk, Inga untied the knives and took off into the crowd of people. Two women spotted her in an attempt to corner her, but Inga responded by simply slicing their throats, one knife slicing through the shield maiden's skin, killing her instantly, the other lodging itself into the other maiden's throat, leaving her to choke on her own blood.

She continued to run through the crowd, ducking blows and chucking knives and stabbing women with swords that she found lying around. She was beginning to feel invincible, until she noticed a woman charge at her, determination in her eyes.

Compared to the other women Inga had fought, this shield maiden was clearly no fool. She had perfect fighting stance and Inga couldn't seem to locate any weak points. But she wasn't going to give up.

The woman charged at her, swinging her sword forcefully, Inga dodged the blow and returned the swing with her own blade. Their blades clashed, as they fought against each other in an attempt to outwit the other. Inga put as much force into her sword as she could until finally she managed to make the woman open up a weak point and kicked the woman in the stomach.

She watched as the woman fell to the ground clutching her stomach. But just as Inga bent down to end the woman's life, she felt the woman reach out and grab her by the ankle. Suddenly, Inga felt all the wind get knocked out of her as she collided with the ground, hitting her head on the hard earth. She struggled to get up, beginning to feel dizzy from hitting her head. She felt the woman grab her by the arm and drag her up, the woman had one of her hands clamped over Inga's mouth and the other holding her arms back in an act of restraint.

Inga didn't have any sort of plan, so she did what first came to mind. She bit down as hard as she could on the woman's hand.

To her surprise, the woman screamed, but didn't try and pull her hand away. Inga could hear the bone in the woman's fingers snapping, she could taste the blood she was drawing, something that wasn't the most pleasant taste. Every second, the woman's screams became more deafening until the woman finally tried to pull away, resulting in her pulling her own hand apart from two of her fingers.

Disgusted, Inga spit out all the blood and flesh that was left lingering in her mouth. She bent down to stab the woman once more, when suddenly she felt something sharp hit her on the head and everything went dark.

Inga awoke in the Earl's hall, a strange feeling lingered in the air. Everything felt different. She looked around the room hoping to determine the enemy, but was interrupted by the throbbing pain in her head. She tried to reach back and clutch her skull, but she found that her hands were bound. She grumbled to herself in pain and went back to looking about.

Suddenly, a female entered the room. She couldn't distinguish a face, but Inga could instantly tell that it was Earl Ingstad. She watched as the Earl circled around the room, eyes locked on Inga.

"Earl Ingstad…" Inga spoke, "We meet again."

"Only you are the enemy," She replied, arching an eyebrow.

"I have always been your enemy. You can't take the throne from Kattegat's true Queen. It is just not right."

The Earl laughed, "Is that so? Well I'm sad to say that your Queen is no longer here," She said while taking a seat on the throne.

Inga felt her blood turn cold, "You killed her?"

The woman simply shrugged, "I suppose I did, but you also killed. You killed 6 of my shield maiden and bit off the fingers of another. An eye for an eye."

"That is not how that works. You killed an innocent woman. She didn't even put up a fight, did she?" Inga said, clenching her teeth.

"She did not, but still, I could not risk her coming back."

"How dare you!" Inga snapped, "You killed her…so expect to be killed in return."

"By who?" The newly crowned Queen inquired, "I lured the Lothbrok sons away so that I could kill the Queen, who's to say that I couldn't trick them again. And besides, neither of the two who are left are really that bold. If you wanted me dead, you'd have to wait for Ivar to return, and frankly, I assume he's dead."

"He's not dead. And I don't need help killing you," Inga responded smoothly, "I will enjoy your death, it will come with ease."

"You are a very fierce girl. It is a shame that I cannot trust you enough to make you a shield maiden. I have no trust in you, but I will keep you alive. I know how close Ragnar was to your family, so I have no right to kill you considering that I still care about him. So I will free you. I have let Ragnar's sons go and they will be here soon to discover that I have taken over and to return you home."

Inga bit her lip, "It is a bad idea to keep me alive."

The Queen smiled, "I know. So don't make me regret it."

Suddenly the doors to the hall were flung open. "Where is our mother?" Ubbe demanding. Inga saw Sigurd trail behind his brother, they looked ready to pick a fight.

"She is dead, Ubbe," The Queen replied smoothly. She glanced over at Inga almost as if to tell her to keep quiet.

"Why?" Ubbe asked demandingly, "What did she do to you?"

"She took my everything, she took my home, my husband, and my happiness. Kattegat should have been mine a long time ago."

"And now it is yours, even though you usurped it and even though you already have Hedeby to look after."

The Queen rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about my other lands. I am Queen, and that is final. I will allow you both to live, but you will stay in Kattegat, just not here in the hall."

Ubbe studied Queen Lagertha for a moment, "But why keep us alive?"

"I have no reason to kill you, you are the sons of Ragnar. You cannot help the fact that your mother bewitched your father."

Inga watched as some sort of switch clicked on in Ubbe. He was obviously offended that Lagertha would say something so rude about his mother who had just died. Inga watched as he threw off his furs and began fighting, leaving Sigurd behind as bait. She watched as he cut through person after person until enough people ganged up on him and overpowered him, trapping him on the ground.

The Queen stalked down from her throne and dismissed the crowd, "Do not be so spiteful, Ubbe, I have your little servant girl for you."

Inga felt everyone's attention shift to her, "She's not mine, she's Ivar's. But why aren't you keeping her?" Ubbe asked, groaning as he gripped his cut leg.

"I can't trust her."

"What do you mean?" Sigurd wondered.

The Queen chuckled, "This girl here killed 6 of my shield maidens and bit the fingers off of another. She would make a great warrior, but clearly has no desire to remain loyal to me. So do me a favor and take her away."

Ubbe laughed, "You must have some sort of misunderstanding," He said beginning to pick himself off the ground, "Inga cannot fight."

"Not from what Astrid told me. She said that your friend here came out of the forest with a basket of herbs, realized what was happening and managed to jump into the fight without a weapon," The new Queen paused letting everything soak in, "Then somehow she managed to get a hold of a sword. She stabbed a woman right through the middle and a second through the heart. From the second woman she acquired knives. With one she slit the throat of one of my shield maidens and with the other, she lodged it in the woman's throat leaving her to choke on blood."

Ubbe, who was now holding himself up with the help from Sigurd's shoulders, perked up, "She did all that?" Ubbe marveled, "Well…what about the woman who lost the fingers?"

"Oh yes. One woman tried to overpower her, she had put a hand over Inga's face and she responded by biting down on my shield maiden's fingers. When she tried to pull away from Inga, two of her fingers were ripped off. If it hadn't been for Astrid coming in and knocking Inga out, I would have lost many more warriors that day."

Sigurd looked at Inga, a bit of fear playing in his eyes, "But why bite her fingers off?"

Inga snorted, "She put her smelly hands on me, and I didn't want to die, so I bit her."

"You say that like you don't understand how…odd that is," Ubbe noted, "How were you not disgusted?"

"The taste was revolting, if that is what you are wondering," Inga remarked, "Now do you think you could tell someone to untie me, I'd like to leave," She grumbled dryly.

Ubbe cast Queen Lagertha a glance. The woman motioned for the woman called, Astrid, to untie Inga. A smirk formed on the young slave's face as Astrid approached. As she untied Inga's binds, Inga leaned in towards the woman and whispered, "I would watch out. I don't ever let my prey get away. So while you may have survived our first battle, that does not mean that you won't survive the next."

"How do you know that I won't kill you? How do you know that we'll ever fight each other again?"

Inga snorted, "I just know."

Astrid pulled away from Inga, whose arms were now free. Ubbe and Sigurd, who were looking a little unsettled, motioned for Inga to follow them out. "Where will we go?" Sigurd asked his brother.

Ubbe shrugged, looking out in the distance with only one eye, for the other was swollen shut, "To our father's old home."

"The home he lived in when he was just a poor farmer?" Sigurd asked.

Ubbe nodded, "Yes. It will be our home now. Now help me out, will you?"

Inga and Sigurd both draped an arm around Ubbe and began to walk him out through town. It was a long walk, with all the new extensions added after the house was constructed, the old home of Ragnar Lothbrok was one of huts farthest from the hall. It was built up on a hill, surrounded by mountains and a forest. It was a very simple setting, but a livable one.

After what seemed like forever, Inga and Sigurd managed to get Ubbe up the hill and into the hut. As they got inside, Sigurd and Ubbe reacted by dropping to the floor, exhausted. Inga took a seat on a stool and surveyed the room.

"Where am I to sleep?"

Ubbe looked at her for a moment, and then around the room, "Up there," He pointed to a canopy like bed, "I believe that is where a young Bjorn and out deceased sister once slept."

"You had a sister?" Inga asked.

Ubbe nodded, "I never met her, but I've known about her. It turns out she was killed when a fever swept through the village. Her name was Gyda."

"I'm sorry that you never got to meet her."

He simply shrugged, "You don't have to feel sorry, again, I never knew her, and in this world, dying is normal. It is okay to mourn, but eventually you have to grow up and get over a loss."

"I know that, I've had to do that on numerous occasions. And you are right, dying is normal. I used to dread the idea when I was very small, but when my father died, something changed."

Ubbe looked at her a moment cautiously, "You say that as though you have killed many people…"

She snorted, "Because I have. Take today for example, that's the most that I've killed in three years, but it was not the first time."

"I can tell," Ubbe remarked, "There is no telling that you are certainly skilled and truly experienced. It does not even seem to me that it has been the first time in a while," He paused, "But tell me, do you get pleasure out of killing."

She stopped for a moment, trying to clear her thoughts, "I…I'm not sure," She mumbled, "I don't think that it's that killing is pleasurable, I think that it's energizing, the more you kill, the more invincible you feel."

He nodded, looking down at Sigurd, who stared back at Inga eyes wide, "You are just as crazy as Ivar," Sigurd noted.

Inga shook her head, "Wrong. I am crazier."

"How?"

She laughed, shaking her head in amusement, "Can't you tell? I'm in control of what I do, I'm in control of my sanity. I can fit in with anyone, fool anyone, and pester anyone…because I have control. Ivar does things without a second thought, which makes him unpredictable, and as you put it, crazy. He's unpredictable, because half of the time, he doesn't even know what he is going to do. I do, I plan, I deceive, I lie, and then I strike and sometimes I take things a little too far."

"Disturbing…" Sigurd muttered.

"I apologize if I'm upsetting you. I just like to do what I can to help people see things in a new light."

He nodded, "You are very different."

"And interesting," Ubbe added, "Ivar was right about you."

"Right about what?"

"He simply said that there was something about you that he just couldn't brush off."

"I agree," Sigurd added, "She is very interesting. It is a shame that you associate yourself with Ivar and not with any of us," He said motioning around.

She snorted, "I would never be with either of you, even if someone bribed me. I'm not one for love, but I'll know when I've found the right person for me."

Sigurd took a sip of his drink and turned away as Ubbe stood up and announced that he had to take a piss.

Inga laughed at Ubbe's outright openness and watched as he left the room, leaving her to her horn of ale. She drank it, savoring the taste, but slowly began to feel a bit tipsy. She noticed Sigurd staring at her from the corner of her eye, and she turned to face him.

"You shouldn't be with Ivar," He stated harshly, "He has the mind of a child."

She rolled her eyes, "And so do you. Children get jealous over attention, so how are you not a child as well?" She said pursing her lips into a tight smirk.

She could see the irritation begin to form in his eyes, "Ubbe or Hvitserk will get Margarethe. I need someone. Ivar does not deserve a woman if he cannot please one, you should be with me."

She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her drunken laughs, "You've got to be joking, Sigurd. You and me? That could never happen!"

He raised an eyebrow, "I'm not so sure, I think we would be great together…"

"And I think not," She replied, looking him sternly in the eyes, "I'm not interested in you. I told you no, so my answer is no."

She watched as he stood himself up and walked closer to her, as if to try and make her feel threatened, "If this is your attempt at asserting dominance, then you're failing," She responded dryly. She reached into her dress pocket and withdrew her knife. She watched as Sigurd took a small step back.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," He told her, "I would never force myself upon you."

She gave him a twisted smile, "Good then. Because I wouldn't want to tell Ivar about what you did."

"Because you would be afraid that he would be jealous and never speak to you again?"

She laughed, "No. If you ever try and persuade me to be with you again, I will kill you. I won't need to tell Ivar to go after you, instead I would need to tell him of how I killed his puny, little brother." She slowly slid her knife back into her pocket and turned away, to stare at the fire. A few moments later, Ubbe reentered to room.

"What'd I miss?" He asked.

"Nothing," Inga responded coolly, "I think it would be good for us to talk about what we should do to avenge your mother."

"Should we even?" Sigurd asked, "I mean, she was never really close to us, and we'd have to kill Bjorn's mother."

"We should avenge her," Ubbe said, "We would just have to wait for Ivar. He would be the one to want to do the honors. He was closest with mother, and honestly, he is the most blood-thirsty."

"But if he kills Lagertha, then he will become King!" Sigurd exclaimed.

"Good point, but either way, something is going to happen eventually between us and Lagertha. She took everything that belonged to us, so now we must take her life,"

Inga smiled up at Ubbe, "I know you both were never very close to your mother, but she was kind to me and to my mother. Lagertha will get what she deserves."

A small smile blossomed on Ubbe's face, he raised up his horn of ale and yelled, "Skol!"

Sigurd and Inga both lifted up their drinks to join in, "Skol!"


	7. Chapter 7

**So I want to start by saying thanks to everyone who has read my story and liked it and followed it, I'm so glad that everyone is enjoying it so far. I would also like to remind you to leave comments and to feel free to ask me any questions. I also would like to apologize if this chapter is too long for your taste, I had a lot of ideas and also a period of time where I literally just could not stop writing. Also there is some romance later in the chapter, I don't think that it's vulgar at all and that it really requires a warning, I'm simply just warning you because it is probably bad and too rushed. Either way, please enjoy and I will try to get the next chapter out in a week or two.**

It was the next morning and Inga had gotten herself up early and prepared breakfast for Sigurd and Ubbe. She worked quietly, cooking up some fish before they awoke.

When Sigurd and Ubbe awoke and found that Inga had prepared them breakfast, they were grateful and the three all sat down to eat and immediately jumped into a conversation.

The three were torn on what to do in regards to the death of Aslaug. Personally, Inga wanted revenge, she had always been close to the late queen, and owed the woman her life, Sigurd however felt very differently.

Sigurd claimed that they should do nothing to honor their mother, and somewhere between Sigurd and Inga's views, Ubbe was lodged, being indecisive. It made Inga's blood boil, all she wanted was to see to it that Lagertha was off the throne.

"I don't understand why you are so against getting revenge," Inga grumbled, glaring at Sigurd. She watched as he sighed and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Ubbe cut him off.

"Let's not argue," He said looking back and forth between Inga and Sigurd, "There is no reason to. We will get revenge…just not now. We need a plan _and_ we need Ivar."

"We don't need Ivar. We don't need revenge," Sigurd replied stubbornly, "I'm not trying to get myself on anyone's bad side and I'm certainly not trying to get myself killed."

"You claim that you aren't trying to get killed," Inga mused, "Yet the words coming out of your mouth are making me want to kill you."

Sigurd opened his mouth once again to protest, but he snapped it shut, not knowing what to say to yet another one of Inga's threats.

Ubbe, who was beginning to grow agitated with the constant arguing, stood up and walked across the room. He leaned by the door staring out at the sunlight before turning and saying something.

"We need Ivar, and as Vikings, as true berserkers, we must get revenge. I heard mother say that she thought that Ivar was killed, but I'm not so sure that I believe her. If he is alive and he is returning with father, I'm sure they will be here soon, it's been about a month or so. When Ivar returns, then we will move. If you don't want to participate, Sigurd, then fine," Ubbe remarked, "But the gods don't look so kindly upon cowardice."

Inga watched as he turned and left out the cabin, neither Inga, nor Sigurd knew where Ubbe was going, but they didn't stop him. Clearing her throat, Inga stood up and began working on cleaning the dishes. The room was silent, until Sigurd spoke up.

"I'm sorry," He said. She turned around to face him, surprised at his kind gesture.

"It's fine," She responded, brushing off his apology, "I don't need an apology, I've gone my whole life without ever getting an apology for my father's death, or for the death of my mother. I don't need apology over something as dull as an argument. I just need to know that you will take action."

She looked at him, pleading with her eyes. She watched as he bit his lip, deep in thought, "Fine," He grumbled, "I will, but don't expect me to take any orders from Ivar, understand?"

She snorted, "That's fine, you won't have to take any orders from Ivar, but that doesn't mean that you won't get any orders from me," Laughing quietly to herself, Inga went back to scrubbing. She couldn't wait for the day that Ivar returned and she would get revenge for Aslaug's death. All Inga could say was that when the time came, Lagertha's death wouldn't be a pretty sight.

It was late at night and Inga was slowly beginning to fall asleep, being whisked away into a dream of her distant path.

She didn't often dream, but when she did, her dreams often revolved around her father or mother's death, but this night was different. In her dream, she was her old 13 year old self a few months before her mother's death. But instead of being in the mind of her old self, she was watching from a distance, in 3rd person, experiencing things from a new perspective.

Inga studied her old self, noting how much shorter she was and how lighter her hair was. Other than a few minor changes, she could tell that they were definitely one in the same.

Inga watched as her younger self sat in the same hut from her childhood. Nothing seemed to be on her younger self's mind, but a twisted look was upon her face.

Out of nowhere, she watched as her younger self stood up and seized a knife from the dining table and began to leave the house, still looking as psychotic as ever. Inga felt the life being sucked out of her. She remembered the moment, but it wasn't a good moment, it was one that she had long forgotten until now.

Still, Inga followed after her young self and watched as the girl hid the knife and walked through the village. Everything was loud, leaving her ears searing in pain and her mind dizzy. She tried her best to keep after her young self, but every second longer made her feel more confused.

Inga almost lost her younger self, but then caught a glimpse of red hair, and sprinted in her direction. She caught up with her young self just as she saw the girl wave to a friend and begin walking out to the forest with him.

It was him. She couldn't remember his name because she forced herself to forget, but she could never seem to forget his face. It seemed like she hadn't seen him in forever, and yet the events of her dream were beginning to feel like they had just happened yesterday. Although she knew that her dream wouldn't end well, she followed after them.

She could hear them chatting quietly to themselves, making small talk until they reached a clearing and a young Inga turned to face him. This was where things began to go downhill.

"You know I love you, right?" She heard her younger self say. The boy merely nodded in reply.

"Of course."

"Then why did I hear that you were with another woman?"

Inga watched as the boys faced paled, "Who told you that? It's a lie!" He said, trying to assure her.

But the young girl only shook her head, "And how can I believe you? You probably went off and cheated on me with some other girl because I'm too young for you," Her younger self stood staring at the boy awaiting an answer, but no words came, "Go on," She urged, "Answer me. How can I believe you?"

Again the boy said nothing and Inga watched in horror at how her younger self looked at the boy with a cruel expression, "I knew you didn't love me."

"It's not that!" The boy finally cried.

"Then what is it?!" Her younger self demanded, beginning to reach her hand into her pocket, "If it's not that, then what is it!?"

The boy wrung his hands and tried to avoid the young girl's direct gaze, "It's because I love you, but you're not good for me. You are marked by the god of mischief and you are said to be crazy. I can't be with someone who I fear being killed by."

"You're scared of me?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, "I…scare you?"

He tried to fight looking away with the young girl, but their eyes locked and he could not escape. "So I do scare you. Am I scaring you now?" She asked him coldly, "Am I? Or do I need to try and scare you?" Inga watched her younger self draw out the knife, hiding it behind her back.

"Do you have anything to say to me before...?"

"Before you leave?"

The young girl just laughed, "No. Before you die."

"What?" The boy exclaimed.

"Is that all you have to say?" The young Inga asked, "I don't want to do this…but I have to. It feels right, and I don't ever want to face you again."

"Please…" The boy begged, "I won't fight you because I care about you, but I don't want you to kill me."

The young girl shook her head and before the boy could say anything more she flung her knife with precision and stabbed the boy right in the stomach. But it wasn't until after she had stabbed the boy that she realized her mistake.

Inga watched as her younger self collapsed on the ground crying. The girl crawled to the boy, "I didn't want to, but I had to. Sometimes I can't stop myself." The young Inga held out her shaking hands and looked at them, they were covered in blood. The blood of yet another loved one.

Suddenly, the small girl released a horrifying scream mixed with anger and guilt. Inga watched her younger self break down in the middle of the forest. She knew that it was her own fault, but like her younger self had said, sometimes she couldn't control herself. In all the memories she had of killing people, she always remembered the feeling of guilt towards the start of the battle and after the battle, in between the two she became a true monster.

Inga was about to turn away, when suddenly she heard the boy, choke something out, bringing her younger self to the boy. She couldn't understand his mumbling, but there was one phrase that he said, that even after the forgetting she did, would never go away.

"Find someone as crazy as you, someone who you are scared of. You will find the good in them, I'm sure of it, and to him, you will be as normal as any other."

Inga jolted awake, covered in sweat. Her heart was racing and she was breathing heavily. She frantically looked around the room only to find Ubbe staring at her from the entrance of the door.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," He said, "I hope you're feeling okay and that you're wide awake, because it appears that Ivar has returned. I'm on my way to go get him."

Inga could hardly believe it, "Let me come with you," She begged him.

"You aren't even dressed, stay here and cook something for him to eat, I'm sure he's starved from his trip." Inga simply nodded and began to get dressed after Ubbe left the room. The events from her dream began to replay in her mind.

She was having a bit of a hard time trying to make sense of her dream. It had taken place just barely 3 years ago, and she had forced herself to forget, so she couldn't exactly remember why she was angry, but what the boy had said to her as he died really stuck with her, every year, every day, and even every second.

"Find someone as crazy as you, someone who you are scared of. You will find the good in them, I'm sure of it, and to him, you will be as normal as any other."

Perhaps that was why she liked Ivar so much. He was interested in her, but never seemed to show that he was scared of her. In a way, she was also a little scared of him, simply because he was unpredictable, but at the same time, he gave her a rush that made her feel excited and alive. He made her feel normal, and she made him feel loved. It was exactly as the boy had said. She had found someone that she liked…someone she loved. Love. It sounded like such an odd word to say, but it was the right word.

She finished getting dressed and began boiling a pot of hot water over the fire when the doors suddenly burst open and Sigurd and Ubbe came in with Ivar. Inga could hardly believe it, she could feel tears pricking at her eyes, she had been told by many people that they thought that Ivar had died, but they had been wrong, he was in front of her now and he was alive.

"Ivar!" She exclaimed she sat down next to him as his brothers lowered him onto a stool, "Thank the gods! You are alive!" She cupped his face in her hands and looked him over to make sure he looked okay. He didn't seem to be bruised in any way, but he looked very tired.

Ubbe poured his brother a drink of ale and Inga pulled the hot broth off of the fire and poured Ivar a bowl. Everyone watched as he ate slowly, and then they all took a seat beside him at the table.

They were all silent for a while, until Ubbe spoke up, "So where is father?" He inquired.

Ivar looked around at his brothers and Inga and shook his head, "He is either dead or about to die. King Ecbert handed him over to King Aelle like a sacrifice, knowing he'd kill father."

"So what do we do?" Sigurd asked Ivar.

Ivar rolled his eyes, "Isn't it clear? We seek revenge on Aelle and on Ecbert."

"Ivar's right, we need to avenge your father," Inga replied, "Those Kings have caused our people enough trouble, it's about time that we do something about them."

Ivar managed a grim smile in Inga's direction and then went back to eating, until he abruptly stopped, "Wait. Why are we here and not back in the hall?" He asked his brothers. No one answered so he turned to Sigurd, "Sigurd?"

"There's something we have to tell you," He mumbled to his brother, not daring to look Ivar in the eyes.

"Well what is it?" He paused waiting for Sigurd to respond, and when he didn't he turned to Ubbe, "Ubbe?"

"Ivar…mother is dead."

Inga reached out and held Ivar's hand tightly, "How did she die?" He asked staring at his brothers intensely.

"Lagertha killed her," Ubbe responded, "But she let us go."

"That all makes sense, except for the fact that Inga is here. She was a slave of our family when she left, when mother died Lagertha would've inherited all of our slaves, which includes Inga. So how is Inga here?" He asked in a demanding tone. Inga noticed that he posed this question to his brothers and not actually to Inga. She didn't understand why, but didn't say anything.

"Lagertha said that she did not trust Inga."

"Why?" Ivar asked turning to look at Inga with a sharp glare.

"Don't glare at me," She told him, "I simply fought, I defended our people and killed some of Lagertha's shield maidens. Apparently she was entitled to killing your mother and many of townsfolk, but I wasn't allowed to do the same. She let me go because she knew I was close with Ragnar, and I'm sure she thinks that she could use me as a threat to you, though I doubt she'd ever convince me or be able to catch me."

Ivar studied Inga for a moment, a look of anger danced on his face, but also surprise, "I thought you said you couldn't fight."

"I can, I just said that it had been a while and that I wanted to train with you. You see, I haven't been completely honest. I have killed a fair amount of people, and I'm still haunted by the memories. It's just not something I like to talk about, but it's out now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just needed to be sure that I trusted you."

"So you trust me now?"

She nodded and he simply sighed, "Well now that I know that she did something to protect my mother and our wealth, perhaps I should ask you two what you did," He said eyeing his brothers, "So tell me, where were you?"

Sigurd and Ubbe looked at each other uncomfortably, "Well, we were tricked into going to Hedeby where we tried to figure out which one of us got Margarethe."

"Some things happened," Sigurd added, obviously hinting at the idea that they both slept with Margarethe, "And before long we got locked up."

"Well it's good to know that my brothers were out sleeping with some whore while Inga was fighting for her life and our mother was being murdered," He grumbled. Inga could feel him gripping her hand tightly and could tell that he was angry.

"And now there are shield maidens posted out and around the whole house, we are going to be watched every time we step foot out of this house," Ubbe groaned, "This place is already beginning to feel like a prison."

"Then let's do something about it. We need to confront Lagertha."

"But why? If we have father's death to worry about, shouldn't we take care of that first?"

"Not if I challenge her to combat, if I kill her then we get everything back and we won't have to worry about dealing with her when we return from our raid on England."

"Do you really think that she would agree to fight you?" Sigurd laughed.

"She could, but is it a really a good idea to reveal our intentions this early? We don't want any reason for them to pay any closer attention to us. We need to think this through before we do anything," Ubbe stated.

"But what about you Inga, will you help?" Ivar asked averting his attention to her.

She gave him a nod, "Of course, I will always be by your side to help you. If you ever call my name I will always come running. I loved your mother and father just as much as you did, they deserve to be avenged."

"See. Inga agrees," Ivar sneered at his brothers, "If you want to act like cowards, then go ahead, but when the time comes, I will kill Lagertha."

They were all silent for a moment before Ubbe suggested they all go take a bath in the lake. Ivar agreed even though he knew that he would not be able to bathe with his brothers, but he found being out in the fresh air to be relaxing and since he had a feeling Inga wouldn't want to bathe with his brothers, he found that it might be a good chance for him to talk to her.

When they all exited their hut, the shield maidens followed them out to the lake and watched them all with precision. Not a single shield maiden dared to even look away when Ubbe and Sigurd undressed, which Inga found quite surprising.

She sat beside Ivar noticing how angry he acted, but noting that his eyes said quite the opposite. She could see in his eyes that he was sad and still grieving. He was only 16 years old and had already lost his mother and his father after just getting to connect with him for the first time in 10 years. A part of Inga could relate to Ivar, since she too had lost both her parents, yet she didn't know how to approach him about his emotions. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to admit when he was sad or angry, emotions made him feel weak.

She stared at his face until he noticed and turned and stared at her in return, neither of them said anything until Ivar reached forward and held her hand in his.

"What was that for?" She asked him quietly.

He looked back at her, a look of misery on his face, "You don't look so good," He said to her.

She just shrugged, "I didn't sleep too well, I had a nightmare."

"About what?"

She laughed at his curiosity, even in his most petulant mood, he was still as curious as ever.

"It was a dream about someone I killed," She looked at him trying to detect his thoughts and feelings about what she had just said, but he appeared unaffected by her words.

"Who was it?"

"Someone I loved," She murmured. Inga watched as a small look of confusion consumed his face.

"Who have you loved?"

"I don't remember his name, but it was boy. I had feelings for him and he had feelings for me, but I was much younger and a threat to most people. One day I heard from someone that he was seen with another woman, I was only 13 so I overreacted and got this idea in my head that I was unlovable, that I was a monster and the only thing I could do was to be that monster…and to kill him," She whispered, "When people see the monster, I have to be the monster."

Ivar looked at her and look a sharp breath, "I am a monster. I like killing and I can't walk. I'm everything everyone's not. If that's not a monster, then I don't know what is."

Inga smiled at him, "Can I ask you a question?" She asked him, but he simply ignored her and held a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Not now," He responded, "I'm going to sneak off and spend some time alone," He pulled away from Inga and turned to crawl away.

"Don't leave me here," She called after him, but he only laughed.

"What? Are you scared of my brothers or something? I will be back, so just relax."

Inga watched as Ivar managed to crawl away without getting noticed by any of the shield maidens. To them, Ivar wasn't a threat, but they had a lot to learn.

Inga sat in silence for a few moments feeling the wind blow around her. She thought about getting up and heading home, but she felt her curiosity get the better of her.

When she was sure that the shield maidens weren't looking, Inga snuck off and followed after Ivar. She knew that it wasn't the right thing to do, but she wanted to know what he was going to do.

When she got farther from the lake and in a less tree-spotted area, she could sort of see Ivar crawling in the distance. She followed after him, being sure to be quiet and to stay very far behind him. She followed him all through the forest and up several hills, until she saw him stop and lift himself on a rock. Scared that he might turn and see him, she dived behind the closest boulder and watched him, peaking up from behind the large rock.

She could tell he was whispering something, but she couldn't tell what. She was beginning to think that he might just be sitting alone because he needed space, but all of a sudden he began to scream and emit loud shouts of sorrow. She knew that this was his way of letting out his emotions, he was too afraid to talk about his feelings, so this was his only relief.

She continued to watch him, still hidden, when she suddenly felt the urge to go and comfort him. She knew it was a dumb idea, but she hated to see him in so much pain. She stepped from behind the rock and approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He turned and looked up at her, startled, "What are you doing here?" He asked her, casting a glare.

"I came to check on you," She smiled, trying to sooth him, "I could tell you were upset. I know you aren't the kind of person who likes to admit their feelings, but if you are upset by something, I'll listen to what you have to say."

He rolled his eyes at her and pulled away so her hand was off his shoulder, "I don't want to talk about my problems, I just want to be alone."

"But it's cold outside. You need to bathe, you need to eat, you need to sleep. Staying out here in the mountains won't do you any good."

"And how do you know. Maybe I just want to sit and die up here. I have nothing left."

She raised an eyebrow, "You have me."

"Yes. You're my friend."

"Just a friend?"

He looked up at her, confused, "Yes, we are friends. We've never talked about if we're more than that, but I suppose you are something I have to live for."

"Good," She replied, "Now that you realize that sitting out here is doing you no good, let's go home. You are probably freezing."

"Well, it's not like I can take a bath, I can't swim."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid, I know you can't swim. I'll just have to draw you a bath."

"You?"

She laughed, "Yes me? What are you scared of me?"

"No. I'm not scared of anything."

She laughed again, "I doubt that," She motioned for him to follow her, and the two began to descend from the hills, heading back to their new home. She stopped on her way back and filled a bucket she found lying around with water. The two finally reached the hut, and to their luck, Sigurd and Ubbe were gone.

Inga placed the bucket of water over the fire to heat it and sat down next to Ivar as it boiled. He seemed unusually quiet, "Are you alright?" She asked him.

He shook his head, "No. I'm just confused."

"About what?"

"You," He responded, "You confuse me. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about you. I want to hate you, I want to be able to allow myself to push you away. But something won't let me. And now you are here about to draw me a bath."

"And?"

"And?" He exclaimed, his eyes wide, "Well, people are naked when they bathe!"

"It's not like I haven't seen a naked man before," She said, rolling her eyes at him. But he remained stubborn and sat with his arms crossed.

"I'm not taking a bath."

"And why not?" She waited for an answer, but he didn't respond, "So…you are scared?"

"No!" He protested, "I'm not. It's just that…the last time I got naked in front of another woman, I almost killed her."

"Are you saying I should be scared?" Inga asked, lifting an eyebrow, "Well, I'm not scared. You almost killed her after you tried to sleep with her, this is merely you taking a bath."

"But what about my legs?

"What about them?"

He grumbled something and turned away defiantly, "I'm not bathing!"

"You are dirty from being at sea for over two months," She snapped. She touched a hand to his face, "And you are ice cold."

He flinched under her touch and pulled away, "I'm still not bathing."

"If you are that scared…" She began, "Then maybe I can do something to make the situation equally uncomfortable for both of us."

"What?"

She laughed at the suspicious that hinted in his voice, "I will join you in the bath."

His eyes were wide, looking more confused than ever before, "You must be joking."

"No."

"Yes!"

She shook her head, "No. I'm not joking."

He let out a sigh and shook his head solemnly, "Fine."

"Really?" She asked. He shrugged, he was admitting defeat.

When the water was done boiling, Inga took the water and dumped it into a large tub shaped basin. She grabbed a few cloths and some oils to add to the bath water. She watched Ivar eyeing her nervously in the corner of her eye.

When she finished setting up the bath, she turned around and faced Ivar, "So? Are you going to get in?" He nodded sharply, but shoed her into looking away. She obeyed and after about a minute or two, he pulled himself into the bathtub.

She immediately felt her face heat up. She had never really noticed it before, but Ivar's upper body was all muscle. She had to look away from him to keep from smiling.

Now it was her turn to get into the bathtub. She had no idea why she thought it was smart to join him, but a part of her wanted to show him that he should trust her and feel comfortable around her. With haste, she slipped her dress off and made her way over to the bathtub.

At first, Ivar said nothing and tried to avoid looking at her, but then something caught his eye. Her lower back was covered in a row of markings, markings of Loki. He couldn't help himself and soon found his eyes staring at the young woman's remarkable tattoos.

"Why do you have those?" He asked her pointing to her back.

Inga, who was still standing, simply shrugged, "I've had them since birth. They won't wash away. People tend to think that it's because I'm cursed by Loki." She sat down in the water and cast him a smile, "They are pretty, aren't they? Some say that it's bad that I have them, but I think they make me special."

"Can I ask you something?" Ivar wondered, looking Inga in the eyes, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want you to trust me."

"Anything else?" He asked her. He didn't know why he felt the urge to ask her, but he did.

"I care about you."

"Does that mean you love me?" He blurted out, not realizing what he had asked until after the fact.

She bit her lip and stayed silent for a moment, "I suppose."

"And…do I scare you?" He asked her cocking his head, he watched as she sat in silence debating about what to say.

"Yes."

"I do?" He asked sounding upset. He turned his head to look away from her. Was she just like everyone else? Suddenly he felt her reach out and place a hand under his chin, turning him to face her.

"I find the fact that you are unpredictable and angry very interesting, it makes you intelligent and it makes you strong. You only scare me, not because of who you are, but because of my reputation with others. Everyone I have ever loved has died. Loving you scares me."

"So you do love me?" He asked her, still making sure to uphold a harsh look on his face.

She nodded lightly, "I think I do."

"Why?"

She paused to think for a second. She had never really stopped to ask why, "Well as I said before, you're strong and intelligent and very…"

"Very what?" He blurted.

She blushed, "Well, you're very attractive."

"You find me attractive?" He asked, almost laughing at her words, "You must be blind."

"And why is that?" She asked him confusedly, "Is it because you're a cripple and you're still convinced that no one could ever love a cripple?"

He looked up at her, his face forming anger and shame, she was obviously right and he just didn't want to agree with her.

But she merely laughed at his bitterness, "It's too late for me to change my feelings for you. You've been wrongly doubting yourself. You are lovable, it's just that most women are afraid to test their chances with you. But I'm not. I find you attractive and intelligent, I find you broken. And I want to be the one to fix you."

"I'm not broken."

"Ah, but you are," She insisted, "You are a child at heart, you don't like change, you are destructive, parentless, and you struggle to love even yourself. It is about time that you have someone who can love you right. People fear you, you are your biggest judge, the love from your mother was mere suffocation, and your father's love only lasted a few months. You are in need of someone new to cling to. I want to be that person."

He looked at her in awe, noting the lust in her eyes, "What if you anger me and I kill you? Then I would just hate myself more."

Inga laughed, "You wouldn't be able to kill me. Out of all the people I've fought, if anyone has come to death, it has always been them. It's like I said before, I'm almost cursed. My death will come someday, but not until my purpose is up, so far all I've done is destroy others, but maybe being with you will change that."

"And why do you say that?" He asked her sharply, "Maybe the gods want me dead."

"And why would they want that?" She asked him, "You are going to be the best warrior to ever live, but you can't achieve that if you die."

"You see me as the best?" He asked her, a prideful smirk forming on his face.

"I know that you will in fact be more famous than any other Viking," She said, drawing out her words, "And I will be the lucky enough to watch the greatest in battle. I am lucky to serve you, I'm lucky to be here, right now with you," She said leaning forward and poking him in the chest with the tip of her pointer finger.

"You tease me," He grumbled at her, trying to close up the part of his heart that he opened to her, "You are merely saying words to win my favor."

"Perhaps," She said to him, her voice a whisper, "But why would I want to win your favor unless I truly believed in you. Others see you as nothing but a cripple, clearly you are worth something to me."

"And maybe you are worth nothing to me," He replied carelessly, "It is good to be loved, to be desired, but happiness will only get in the way of my anger, which is one of my biggest strengths, it gives me my power."

"I never said that love brought happiness," She chuckled, "But I do not come to you speaking words of love hoping that you will change. Frankly, if you were anything like the other three of your brothers, I would have no interest in you. So stop trying to be like them, stop trying to win their respect, they owe you nothing."

"So what are you trying to say?" He asked leaning back, and raising and eyebrow, "Are you saying that you want to be with me?"

"Even though I have been freed from my duties as a slave, I still want to stay and serve you. I want to stay and be yours."

"You say that like you expect me to be romantic towards you. You seem to forget that I can't satisfy a woman."

"You tried one time," She said, laughing at him, "And it was with Margarethe, who is terrified of you. You just need someone who loves you, someone who doesn't make you feel so different."

"So are you saying that I need you?"

"No. I'm asking if you want me," She responded softly, she watched as a twisted grin overcame his face, "So, do you want me?"

"I would have control over you? You would be mine?" He asked her, clearly enjoying the idea of being in control.

Inga chuckled, "I would be all yours, for you to do with as you please. But if I say no to something then that means no, that means you leave me be and you are to ask me no further questions. Understand?"

He stared at her for a moment, pondering his options, "Yes," He responded. And before any more words could escape his mouth, Inga lurched forward and caught him in a kiss, pulling herself on top of him.

He didn't know how to react, should he pull away and possibly save himself from further embarrassment? He felt an urge to touch her, he felt drawn to her. He let her continue to attack his mouth as he snaked an arm around her, tracing across the tattoos on her lower back with his fingers.

Inga began to move a hand across his muscles, he could tell that she was impressed by his strength. For once, someone saw it as a good thing and not something to fear.

Removing his arm from around her torso, he began to move a hand up towards her chest. He felt his heart begin to beat and he began to feel more aggressive than ever before, not because he was angry, but because he was hyped up. Just as he was about to move his hand higher up her body, he heard footsteps outside. Out of nowhere, the door flung open and Sigurd and Ubbe walked in.

At first, no one seemed to understand anything. Ubbe and Sigurd just stood there standing in awe at what they were seeing. No one knew how to react until, Ivar finally pushed Inga into the bath water to cover her naked body.

Sigurd looked absolutely disgusted to see that Ivar was with Inga and Ubbe just looked very uncomfortable, nobody said anything until Ubbe cleared his throat, "You both should probably get changed. We can leave and give you space," He said pointing outside.

"That would be nice," Inga chirped. Ubbe grabbed Sigurd by the wrist and pulled his brother outside.

Ivar looked up at Inga and then back to the door and then began laughing hysterically, "Did you see the look on Sigurd's face?!" He exclaimed, "It was beautiful to see him so jealous!"

Inga smiled, "I agree. Now let's get changed." She pulled herself out of the water, the cold air surrounding her as she got out. She quickly dried off and put on a nightgown, then went and helped Ivar out, but let him change on his own in case he wasn't too comfortable with her just yet.

She was sad to admit that their moment had ended so suddenly, but a part of her felt excited to know that she had professed her feelings and he had accepted her. Once he had finished changing, Inga went out and grabbed Ubbe and assured him that they were both dressed. She tried to laugh it out with the two of Ivar's brothers, but she noticed that Sigurd still looked disgusted at what he had seen.

Still, throughout dinner she tried her best to act as though nothing happened, and it was almost possible to believe that nothing did happen, but when nighttime rolled around, Ubbe, who seemed very excited that Ivar and Inga appeared to be together, suggested that the two of them should share the only double bed in the house. And since she had told Ivar that with her, he could do as he pleased, she spent the night curled up by his side. And once again, she fell asleep peacefully, feeling safe, almost like she had a family and was loved again.

 **Too much? Too corny? Am I just bad at writing romance? You tell me. Don't forget to leave a like and to keep a watch out for new updates. Have questions? Don't be afraid to ask. Hate this story? Well too bad, it's not going anywhere. Peace out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**OMG! I am so sorry that I haven't updated in like a month! I have just been super busy with the end of the school year coming up and I have had literally no time or motivation to write! I just want to apologize because not much goes on in this chapter. I wanted to make it longer, but upon seeing how long it's taken me just to get this much done, I decided that it might just be best to post what I have as a filler chapter to tide you over. Hopefully the next chapter will be more exciting than this one, I'm warning you...there will be more of Lagertha, more 'poorly-written' romance, and of course more about Inga's past. As always, thank you so much to those who are still reading and to those who review my story. I was so pleased to see that last chapter someone literally wrote a whole paragraph about how much they liked my story...and it literally made my day! So thank you to everyone who tries to motivate me with their reviews, I can't thank you all enough for all your support! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this abnormally small chapter. Remember to keep reviewing, favoring, following, and of course...enjoying! Peace out!**

It was early the next morning and the sun was struggling to peak out from behind the clouds. And although the sky didn't look like it was going to rain, the air outside felt damp as ever.

Inga had awoken early and gotten dressed, preparing to walk out to the market and get a fresh stock of fish. She didn't feel too thrilled about walking out in the cold, but she longed to get out of the house and she knew for a fact that she was the only one in the house who would feel up to trading at the market.

Wrapping herself up in a fur cloak, Inga quietly crossed through the cabin careful not to make any noise. She passed quietly by Ivar's bed, but paused to turn around and study him for a moment. However, she did so for a moment too long.

Ivar slowly sat himself up, an annoyed expression plastered on his face, "Where are you going?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.

She laughed, "I'm only going to the market. To get fish,"

He eyed her dubiously, "Why not just stay here with me?" He inquired, "No one told you to go to the market."

"Maybe I want to," She offered, smirking.

He snorted at her response, "Why? If you don't have to work, why work?"

Inga only rolled her eyes, "Because I don't want to starve," She joked, "None of you boys are used to any sort of responsibility. Someone has to do the work around here."

"But as a slave, we tell you what to do. I did not tell you that you had to go anywhere."

Inga laughed, "If you don't want me to leave, I'll go later."

"We'll go together…all four of us."

"But why?" Inga asked him, "Why do we all need to go?" She raised an eyebrow at him, curious to his explanation.

He cast her a sly grin, "I want to challenge Lagertha to single combat. I will need my brothers with me, so we can all stop at the market on our way there, what do you say?"

Inga nodded and turned around, setting her basket on the small dining table and draping her cloak around the nearest stool, "So what do we do until then?" She asked him.

He merely shrugged, "What is there to do?" He asked her, "All I can think of at the moment is my revenge."

"You will only have revenge if she accepts your request. How are you going to get her to say yes?"

He irked and eyebrow questionably, "Isn't it obvious? As Queen it would be dumb to turn down a combat request, it makes you look weak."

"Still," Inga murmured, "There are ways that she could avoid the situation."

He looked up at her, letting his eyes gently glaze over her, "I'm still bored…"

"And?" She wondered; looking around the room a smile began to form on her face.

"And we should do something fun."

"Fun? Like what?"

Inga watched as the young man sat in silence for a few moments before looking back up at her with a brilliant idea, "Tell me more about your life."

"What kind of story are you interested in hearing about this time?" She groaned. She was beginning to grow tired of having to rack her mind for old, worn out memories.

"I want you to describe your mother to me," he responded, his voice was quiet but his eyes revealed excitement.

She laughed at his request, "My mother? Why…it's been years since I've seen her, would I even remember?"

"Just tell me about her," He urged, "I want to know what she was like."

"Well," Inga began, "She was beautiful. She and I both have red hair and green eyes, though her hair was nothing but curls. She always had a smile on her face…even as she died, she was willing to accept anything that the gods had planned for her. Her skin was the color of snow, but her cheeks were always rosy. She spoke with a soft voice, even when she was angry, and she was always there for me, she guided me when I was lost, and she supported me despite my need to be violent…"

"And your father?" Ivar asked, interrupting Inga's thoughts.

"My…my father?" She wondered, tripping over her words, "I don't like to think about him…"

"Tell me."

She let out a sigh and looked at the young man before rolling her eyes, "Fine."

She watched as Ivar propped himself up, staring at her intently, curious as to what she would say, "He didn't really look much like me. He had long brown hair, he was tall, muscular, he didn't smile much, I guess you could say that he said everything with his eyes. We may not have a lot of features in common, but personality wise, we were one in the same."

"So you were very close with him?"

She nodded, "Yes, he was an amazing father, but he left me when I was young."

"Like my father," Ivar mumbled, lowering his head from Inga's gaze.

"Don't be so upset about what happened in the past. You know your father loved you, he trusted you and you got to go raiding with him. At least when you grew, you had time with your father, mine died when I was young, so I haven't seen him since."

"But at least you got to know him," Ivar responded, "At least the memories you have with him are good memories."

"Did I really know him?"

"What do you mean by that?" Ivar asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, what if my father wasn't what he said he was?" Inga looked at Ivar and locked eyes with him, she could see the confusion he was feeling, and of course, the curiosity, "Have I confused you?"

He looked at her, a smirk on his face, "Are you proud?"

"Somewhat," She responded, "But I'll explain since you're so eager to know," She paused before turning and seating herself next to him on the bed, "My markings are here for a reason…I don't know that reason, but they are here and they are markings of Loki. Now, you and I both know that the gods sometimes come and visit us Midgardians, they come down, meddle with our lives, sometimes give us gifts, and sometimes they leave us children. If I'm marked by a god…what if my father was Loki or a descendent of him?"

"Your father?"

"Yes my father," She replied, "Is it that so hard to believe?"

Ivar only shook his head, "No, it's not, it's just that Loki isn't known for staying in one place for a long time. You may have been young, but he was there for 6 years of your life."

Inga sighed, "So you're not convinced, huh?" She shook her head, "Well I suppose I do need more proof, so listen to this. You know that my father was sometimes called Dagaz, right?"

Ivar nodded, "Well…" Inga began, "My father's real name was Magnus, but everyone always called him Dagaz because of the rune necklace he wore. He never spoke much about his past and whenever I spoke to my mother about him, she said that it was almost like he appeared in town one day. He was a huge worshipper of the gods and he was favored by Odin, my mother said that my father would often go out to the hills and sit and talk to the sky, as though someone were there. If my father was Loki, maybe he was actually communicating with Odin, what if he was here because he was there to meddle, but then got my mother pregnant, and Odin realized that I could grow to be of use. It would explain my markings and it would explain why my father left so suddenly. Because his work was done and his job was only to prepare me for something."

"So you believe that you are some sort of chosen child?" Ivar scoffed.

She nodded at him, her eyes wide, showing only seriousness, "It would explain my marks and my urge to kill. Whatever I'm meant to do, I needed to endure the death of many to learn to be tough and to be able to accept anyone."

"I still don't believe that your father was Loki."

Inga simply shrugged, "Fine then. You don't have to believe me, and I honestly don't fully believe it either, but it is a possibility. I do know though that I am meant for something, the death of my family was for a reason. I am the way I am because the gods wanted it."

"I know that…I just don't believe that you are chosen or a warrior, for that matter."

"You don't think that I can fight?"

Ivar was silent for a moment, "I never said that…" He responded harshly, "I just can't imagine someone like _you_ killing."

Inga laughed uneasily, trying to keep herself calm, "I wouldn't push me if I were you."

"But it's fun to try and bother people. I want to see how long it takes to anger you," he responded, drawing out his words.

"But…" Inga whispered, dragging a finger across Ivar's lips, "If you anger me…I won't have any love to give, and you wouldn't want that…would you?"

He looked at her, his lips in a tight line, a pained look in his eyes, "So you were serious about last night?" He murmured.

Inga cast him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, "Last night…what happened, what was said…it all feels like a dream, I think about it and it doesn't seem true, I think about you and I assure myself that you were drunk out of your mind, but clearly you weren't."

"Of course not," Inga laughed, "If I was drunk, you would know!"

"I just…" He stopped speaking and suddenly turned away, "Let's just go."

"But…"

"I'll go wake my brothers, go get what you need and we'll go down to the market. After that, we'll take a small trip to Lagertha's hall," He ordered her.

Inga didn't say anything, she only nodded as Ivar crawled off to get his brothers. It was obvious that he was feeling sensitive and he didn't want to show it, but she didn't understand why it hurt him so much to talk to her, and why he found it so hard to believe that she cared about him.

After gathering her things back up, and after Ivar had gotten Sigurd and Ubbe, the four set out to the market, leaving the house, which was surprisingly guard free.

Nothing was said as they all walked through the forest, Inga didn't want to admit it, but she felt a little uncomfortable not being able to begin a conversation with Ivar. Every once in a while she would glance at him and he would stare back before turning away, shaking his head. She didn't understand why he was such in a bad mood…especially over something that he had brought up!

After several more long minutes of awkward silence, the small group finally reached the market. It was busy despite the fact that it was still somewhat early in the morning, but either way, Inga could tell that if they bargained right, they could walk off with some nice goods.

Ushering the 3 brothers into a huddle around her, Inga handed each boy a handful of coins. Turning first to Ubbe, she looked him square in the eyes, "Ubbe, you are in charge of buying the fish, don't worry about the cost, just make sure that you get enough for the next two weeks."

Ubbe gave her a nod and laughed saying, "I hope I can do that," before walking away.

As soon as Ubbe left, she swiveled over to Sigurd and pointed him over to a quaint looking fabric stand, she instructed him to grab anything that caught his eye, or anything that looked comfortable. He obliged and walked over, glancing behind him at first to see if Ivar received any special treatment.

"And what about me?" Ivar asked Inga, his usual smirk returning to his face.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "You will be staying with me."

He let out an uneasy laugh, a slightly annoyed look crossing his face, "What do you mean? I thought that you might just let me go to the blacksmith."

"Well you thought wrong," She laughed, patting him on the head, "Your brothers are all helping, so you can too."

"What is a cripple good for while trading? I can't even stand up to look over the stand itself."

"Well I know that," Inga replied, rolling eyes, "But you don't have to do any talking, just keep me company."

"Isn't that your job?" He snickered, "You're a slave, you don't need me to entertain you."

She simply laughed, "Not as I see it, I may socially be a slave, but really I'm just an equal who is very loyal to you. I'm not asking for your entertainment, I'm simply saying that you can spend time around me. I don't understand why you just can't accept that I care about you, that I…."

Ivar groaned, "Don't get into this again. I'm not one for touching moments, I don't need you to talk about how you love me and how I shouldn't be hard on myself. I know these things…I just don't want them to be true. Love is a weakness…"

"No…happiness is a weakness, love is a strength. It takes strength to love someone, to hold onto them and to not worry about losing them," Inga turned away, staring out into the sky, "The gods took my parents from me, my friends, my enemies, I'm alone and it hurts to try and not be alone. I've grown to like it, because I no longer have anyone to worry about, but I promise you this, being alone is not a good thing. When you find someone who you truly understand, you should not let them get away. I know that you are crazy…I know that you are violent…I know that you like to kill and that you hate everyone who underestimates you. I understand that…and still, I want you."

He shook his head, closing his eyes, "You can want me, but I won't be good for you."

She smiled, "But I'll be good for you. I don't care if you think you are the worst person in the world, or the strongest person…you are who you are and you can't change that…and you can't change how I feel, now come along," Inga responded, motioning for Ivar to follow. He didn't object and slowly began to pull himself after her.

He didn't understand why she had to be so damn persistent. He just wished that sometimes he had never pulled her aside to talk, that he should have tried harder to hide what he was feeling, that he could resist his urge to be with her, but he couldn't…and that scared him. The more she pressed, the weaker he felt and the more nervous he felt about his situation. If he did ever truly open up to her about his feelings and something were to happen between them…what if things went the same way as they did with Margarethe? In all honesty, he didn't want to push her away, but that's all he knew how to do, seeing that for the longest time, his mother's suffocation was all he received as a form of affection.

He sighed and continued to crawl after her. He would just have to do as she said and keep her company, it was least that he could do, even though he just wanted to go straight to Lagertha and demand single-combat. Still, he admired that she saw passed what others couldn't, that she was attracted to him…that her being around him made Sigurd jealous…that there was still more to her story that was unsaid. And he wasn't going to break the promise that he had made himself…no matter what, he was going to find the truth behind her, she was to be his…and only his.

 **So yeah...I lied...I'm still here. I thought maybe that it might be a cool idea to start asking you guys questions to learn more about my readers. So I guess my first question should obviously be vikings related...so...I dunno...if you were in Vikings who would you date? (For me it would obviously be Ivar).**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys! So sorry for the wait, this chapter was just one that felt very eventful for me, so I wanted to take the time to really make sure that every moment was clear and understandable. I hope you guys enjoy, I tried to make this chapter a bit longer than normal (though it isn't the longest chapter I've ever written). Also please be sure to check out my profile; there I talk about my Instagram account and my YouTube account. On Instagram I have a vikings fan account that I literally just started, there I am currently doing a 30-day vikings challenge and I will also be updating you on the progress of my story. On YouTube I also have a video posted on my reaction to some of your reviews (however not all the reviews were reacted to, because this video was made like 2 weeks ago...also don't be alarmed by my appearance, I may be young and my voice is probably obnoxious and very non-understandable, but it's still the same me who wrote this fanfic. Anyway, please enjoy and don't forget to follow, favorite, and leave me a review. Your feedback always makes my day!**

To Ivar, it seemed as though it took Inga nearly an hour to find what she wanted. She asked far too many questions about each object, inspected everything she showed an interest in, and tried to make many favorable bargains. While he was impressed with her skill, he couldn't help but be bored as he sat around listening to her drone on and on. He was never much for small talk…or any general conversation with strangers for that matter, so naturally, he found himself daydreaming. That was until Inga finally declared herself finished.

"Alright, I think I've got everything that I need. Hopefully your brothers are done."

Ivar rolled his eyes, "At the rate you were going, I'm sure that they're long passed done."

Playfully Inga swatted at Ivar as she laughed along with him, "You know I can't help it. These traders here often times try to swindle people out of their money. I don't plan on letting someone swindle me," She paused in thought for a moment, "Knowing your brothers, they are either already at the Earl's hall…or they're at home, possibly drunk."

"That's certainly a possibility," Ivar mused, "Let's hope that they are already at the Earl's hall, though frankly, they aren't really needed in our little plan." With a brief motion, he led Inga in the direction to Lagertha's hall.

Snaking through crowds of people, Inga and Ivar began to slowly get closer to their destination. With each step they took, they could begin to hear more and more noise. It appeared as though there was lots of cheering and the sound of the crowd chiming in coming from the inside of the hall. There was no doubt in Ivar's mind that Lagertha was giving some sort of speech.

Now at the doors, the pair stood waiting for a good time to enter. Once they heard the crowd begin to stop cheering, Inga slowly began to push the doors open, a smirk playing on her face.

As the doors opened, the crowd came to a hush and watched as Ivar dragged himself across the floor, using a pair of tools to drag himself along. As he crawled, the crowd naturally began to clear a path for him. No one spoke, only the violent stabs of Ivar's tools could be heard as he clawed his way across the floor.

As per usual, Inga made sure to keep her distance from Ivar, allowing him a moment to have everyone's attention. She blended in with the rest of the crowd, despite being a slight step closer to Ivar. Smirking to herself, she surveyed the room. Everyone was focusing on Ivar, confused and in shock, good. Even Sigurd and Ubbe seemed a little confused as to what was happening.

Ubbe flashed Inga a concerned look, but she merely brushed him off. If anyone decided to interrupt Ivar, Inga wouldn't hesitate to find a way to 'shut them up.'

A few moments passed before Ivar pulled himself up on a stool and looked Lagertha square in the eye.

"Hello Ivar," The Queen smiled, greeting him smoothly. She appeared to be relaxed, but Inga could see that behind the Queen's eyes, she seemed a little tense. Still, somehow Lagertha's emotions were hidden almost all too perfectly.

"Lagertha," Ivar grumbled, "I have come here for my revenge. We all know that you killed my mother in cold blood…"

Ubbe reached out and put a hand on Ivar's shoulder, silencing him, "Ivar…" He murmured, casting his brother a warning.

With a quick motion, Ivar brushed Ubbe away, avoiding his gaze, "Don't touch me, coward," he seethed.

A gentle laugh escaped the Queen's lips, "He's not a coward, Ivar. He's simply warning you on a matter he clearly knows more about than you do."

He rolled his eyes at her remark, "That still does not excuse you for killing my mother."

"That is true, but you do realize that she took something that was rightfully mine. She took my husband, my title, she took everything only for me to have to win it back again."

"True, it was yours," Inga admitted, stepping out of the crowd, "But you do realize she wore that crown better than you ever will. She bore most of Ragnar's sons, ruled in his absence, helped Kattegat grow in trade; what are you going to do that she already hasn't? All you'll end up doing is attracting invaders who want your power."

The Queen didn't respond, she had a hard look on her face which said that Inga had been right and the Queen had nothing to counter with.

"Lagertha…I challenge you to single combat," Ivar announced, throwing out his arms. He sat waiting for a response, a blood-thirsty look festering on his face.

"No."

"No?" Ivar asked, astounded, "You cannot refuse single-combat!" He exclaimed.

"I refuse to fight you, Ivar Lothbrok, son of Ragnar!" She exclaimed, a hard expression still plastered to her face.

"Why?" Ivar demanded, "Why turn me down?"

"Because I do not wish to kill you."

"And who says you are going to kill me?" Ivar inquired, questioning her confidence.

She paused for a moment, staring at him intently before responding with the words, "I do."

He grumbled something to himself before looking the Queen in the eyes and saying, "Fine. We won't fight. But know this Lagertha, your fate is fixed."

From that point, no more was said as she took a seat on her throne. Inga watched as Ivar began to crawl off, feeling angry because of Lagertha's rejection. Inga slowly began to follow after him, and soon after, Ubbe and Sigurd followed. If the Queen wasn't going to agree to combat, they would just have to find another way to dispose of her.

After exiting the hall, Inga broke into a sprint after Ivar. After everything that had went down, she knew he was probably angry and needed space, still, she wanted to try and calm him to make sure he wouldn't do anything that he might later regret. She caught up with him, and stood before him, trying to bring him to a halt. When she got him to stop crawling, he froze and looked up at her, anger in his eyes.

"Go," He ordered her, "Leave me alone."

She shook her head firmly, and tried to cup his face in her hands, but he pulled from her grasp, "I want to be alone."

She sighed; there was no point in arguing with him, his mind was already made up. She turned and stepped out of the way and watched as he crawled in the direction of the blacksmith.

As she watched him crawl away, she could hear Ubbe and Sigurd come running after her. When they caught up with her, Inga felt Ubbe place a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about him," He assured her, "He just needs space."

"I know," She sighed, "I just worry, because with his anger, even the smallest mistake could ruin any sort of connection that we have."

Ubbe nodded and patted her shoulder, "I understand."

"But I don't," Sigurd grumbled to himself, "I don't understand how you could be attracted to _him_."

Inga swiveled around and looked at Sigurd a moment, pondering what to say. She could see that he was still very jealous about what had happened just the night before, though she didn't get why, "I'm attracted to him because unlike you, he isn't a monster."

Sigurd laughed at her remark, "I think you've got us mixed up. After all, he is a literal monster. We can't forget that he isn't anything like us. He's crazy and he's deformed. All I do is simply put him in his place."

"No, all you do is throw tantrums over not having attention. I really think that you need to try and grow up, Sigurd. It might serve you well."

She cast him a final glare before picking the crate of fish Ubbe had bought, off the ground and walking away. She stormed through the woods, reluctant to get home. She couldn't wait to have a moment to herself, a moment where she didn't have to deal with anymore nonsense.

When she reached their home, she flung open the doors and dropped the crate on the floor, all before running over to the bed and collapsing. She was exhausted from a day of walking and arguing. She almost sort of longed for the moments when she was a slave to Aslaug again, before she had even dared to speak to any of Ragnar's sons.

She continued to drift off into deep thought, until she suddenly felt as though someone was watching her. Slowly, she sat herself up and found herself face to face with an unexpected guest. It was Odin.

Inga could hardly believe her eyes. She didn't dare say a word, so she took her time looking the old wanderer over, noting his missing eye, dark clothing, and faded tattoos. He was certainly a sight to behold.

"What are you doing here?" She finally asked him. He said nothing in return, he simply continued to stare at her, waiting for her to ask the right question.

"Did something happen?" She asked him sounding concerned, "Or are you here to tell me I'm destined to die or something?"

The man raised an eyebrow to her and brushed off a laugh, "No, you are destined for more than just death. You seem to underestimate your true importance."

"Importance?" Inga laughed, "All I'm good for is deceiving and leading people to their doom."

The Alfather took a step closer to Inga and stared at her, deep in thought, "I came here to tell you of Ragnar's death," He finally admitted, "He was killed by serpents; his body lays in the cold undergrowth of the kingdom, Northumbria."

"I knew he was going to die, so why come all this way to tell me?" Inga demanded.

"I didn't come to just speak to you, I came to speak to his sons as well, to fuel their belief in getting their revenge."

"So why come to me?" Inga wondered, "I'm not related to the late king."

"That is correct," The old man laughed, "But I came to tell you that your time of confusion is up. Your questions will soon be answered and I can promise you that your life will begin to feel as though it has a purpose."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Inga asked, "My life has meaning…it just has meaning that doesn't make sense. I understand that my life went a certain way for a reason, but don't tell me that my questions will be answered _soon,_ answer my questions _now._ I need to know who my father really was."

"Patience, my child. Good things come to those who wait."

Inga grumbled angrily to herself. She had waited long enough and she still couldn't get any answers out of the Alfather himself.

"So…I should expect some upcoming news?"

The man gave her a curt nod, "Many surprises will come your way, surprises that will make you understand your purpose and your life events better."

"Surprises that might tell me if my father is who he says he was?" Inga inquired. She awaited a response of approval; at the moment all she cared about was finding the truth.

But the man only smiled at her curiosity, "Wait for your time to come," He responded in a whisper. He turned and bid her goodbye and was about to walk off before she called out to him.

He turned back around, surprised, "Odin…" Inga began, "If my father is Loki…what does that make me?"

The room was silent for a moment, then the Alfather took a breath and spoke, "It would make you a very _powerful_ girl."

He turned back around leaving Inga to mull over her thoughts, and like a blink of light, he vanished into the shadows.

And like that, he was gone, and Inga still had unanswered questions. She sighed and fell back on the bed; she figured that Ivar would be gone a while and so would Ubbe and Sigurd, so she allowed herself to close her eyes. She tried to lull herself to sleep with peaceful visions, but she still felt unsettled. While Odin hadn't specifically told her if her father was Loki or not, his responses certainly made her think that she had some sort of connection to the trickster god. And while she was glad for the small boost of confidence that her hypothesis might be correct, she felt anxious. She wanted to know the full story, and she especially wanted to know what Odin meant when he had said "That would make you a very _powerful_ girl."

She continued to lay back on the bed, staring at the white ceiling. This is what her life was becoming. It was becoming the exact opposite of what she had planned. She had just wanted to stay a slave; to serve the Lothbroks. She longed for safety and a moment of peace. And for two years she had just that, she had the peace and safety she had hoped for. But now of course, the gods grew bored with her lifestyle and they wanted a change. They had gotten Ivar to notice her, and that was when her perfect life was set to flames.

It wasn't bad that he was in her life, she was thankful that she could be a friend to him. She loved him and while around him she felt feelings she hadn't felt in years. But she often worried that she may have made a mistake.

As smart as she was and as chaotic as she tended to be, she never liked being the center of attention. Even as an only child, she hated being doted on. She liked being able to take care of herself and to be able to observe the world around her. Being with Ivar put her in a precarious position. He was so ruthless and outspoken when it came to revenge and other things he felt strongly about. With him being so naturally prone to making enemies, it put her at risk too, and she didn't like that idea; for she was certainly not very fond of change.

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to relax. Maybe she could will herself to fall asleep; it wouldn't hurt to get a moment to herself. She tried to fill her mind with vivid pictures; memories, hopes, dreams. She could feel herself relaxing, but she felt too aware of her surroundings to think that she might be dreaming. It was if she felt nervous to sleep, though she didn't know why. And for some reason she felt different, she felt dazed…she felt eyes yet again watching her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up. She expected to see Sigurd staring back at her, but instead she was faced with her mother.

She had no idea why her mother was in front of her…she was supposed to be dead. Inga blinked several times; as if trying to clear her eyes, but her mother's figure never vanished.

At first her mother stood, not moving, allowing Inga to take the time to gaze upon her mother's face. It had been so long since she had last seen her. Her lovely, curly red hair, her emerald green eyes, her warm, inviting smile. Her skin looked as pale as she had remembered and like always she had a comforting 'glow' about her.

Inga was silent for a while, but then opened her mouth to speak, "Mother?" She called, "Why are you here?"

Still there seemed to be no response or any type of movement from her mother. It was as if she were just statue or a carving shaved to the exact description of her mother. A chill snaked down Inga's spine; something about her mother didn't feel the same. It was clear that her mother wasn't actually here in person, though she should've expected that.

A sigh escaped her lips as she turned to leave; maybe she was seeing her mother because she was going crazy. In all honestly, Inga wasn't surprised, she honestly thought that she would've gone crazy sooner.

She went to go and sit down on a stool, seeing that she couldn't seem to fall asleep, when suddenly her mother began to slowly whisper Inga's name.

Turning back around, Inga faced her mother. Her mother's lips were in fact moving; it hadn't been her imagination. She looked at her mother closer as her name was continuously uttered; slowly getting louder with each word.

"Mother?" Inga asked cautiously. She thought that she had been confused before, but now Inga was even more confused. What in the world was happening?

She took a step closer to her mother. There seemed to be a glaze over her mother's eyes, proving that her mother truly wasn't human; still, her mouth kept moving and repeating what sounded exactly like Inga's name.

Reaching forward, Inga put a hand against her mother's face. Her skin was ice cold, but something about it was reassuring, "Mother, what do you want?" Inga pleaded, "Mother, answer me."

"Inga…" Her mother called, "Inga…!"

"Mother, what?" Inga begged, "What is it!?"

"Wake up…Inga!"

"Wake up?" Inga exclaimed, "What do you mean? I'm already awake!"

"Inga! Wake up!" Her mother shouted. Suddenly her arms shot out and seized Inga's shoulders; she began to shake her, "Wake up!"

Instantly, Inga's eyes fluttered open as she shot up and found herself face to face with Ivar.

"Finally," He groaned, "I've been trying to wake you for a while now."

"You have?" She asked, "I honestly had no idea that I was asleep."

"Really? You know, you did seem to be pretty frightened in your dream. What happened?"

She rubbed her eyes, "My mother showed up," She yawned, "She didn't do much, except utter my name, though I think she was only doing that because of you."

He rolled his eyes at her, "I didn't realize you would be so bitter about me waking you. I just had something important to tell you."

"You did?" She wondered, "So do I. I think it may have caused whatever mess my dream was. I just wonder if there was more in the dream I was supposed to see and it just happened to get interrupted by you."

"I wouldn't be surprised," He muttered, "So, want to hear what happened?"

"Sure," She nodded.

"Alright, well you'll never believe this…Odin visited me."

"He did? He…"

Ivar cut her off, "He told me that father is officially dead, he…he made me feel some sort of intense feeling. A determined kind of feeling. I feel the need of revenge more than ever now."

"And revenge shall be yours," She smiled, "But first we must wait and formulate a plan."

"Mmm…waiting has never been a good skill of mine."

A laugh escaped Inga's lips, "I definitely believe you."

He cast her a small smile and pulled himself closer to her on the bed, "You slept through dinner, though technically we never really had dinner. It was mostly just a snack of bread and lots of ale."

"I'm sorry about not cooking. I promise it won't happen again."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't be so apologetic. For one thing, I like watching my brothers get drunk. They always make fools of themselves. Unlike them, I know my limitations on drinking. They however, drink until they can't stand."

Inga giggled, "Funny, aren't they? I know you find them a pain sometimes, but you're lucky; I never had any siblings."

"Never?"

"Well, actually…" Inga trailed off.

"Well actually…what?"

Inga took a deep breath, "I was supposed to be a twin," She finally admitted.

"A twin?" He exclaimed.

"Yes, a twin. I was born a few minutes before my sister, actually."

"Well, what happened to her?" He asked, "You've never mentioned her before."

"That's because she didn't last long. I was a fairly large and healthy child, but she was born sickly and pale," Inga sighed, "When my mother gave birth, I had been ready to leave her womb, but my sister wasn't, and because of that, she died."

Ivar was silent for a moment. Finally he looked up at her with his deep blue eyes and put a hand on her shoulder, "And you blame yourself, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Inga grieved, "It seems as though, even as a baby I was destined to ruin people's lives."

He laughed, "I understand. I killed a boy when I was just a young child of age six. I've always felt like I've been destined to be no more than a monster, but look at me now."

"I remember that," She murmured, "I was with you that day."

"You were?" He exclaimed, raising an eyebrow, "I didn't know that we knew each other as children."

"When my father died, my mother took up clothes making. Your mother found her to be very talented and once a month requested that my mother came and brought her something new; whether it be for her or for you or one of your brothers. In return we were paid in coin and we got to eat dinner in the hall. My mother became very acquainted with your mother, and I…well, I took up an interest in you."

"Then how come I don't remember?"

"It was so long ago," She responded, "And months after your incident with the boy, I stopped visiting. My mother wanted to isolate me from anyone who might encourage my violent desires."

"So...what did we talk about as children?" He asked her with a playful smile.

She chuckled, "Anything really. Often times I just listened to whatever you had to say."

"And why was that?"

"Because you deserved to have someone to talk to, and personally, I was interested in you. Other children were either scared or disgusted by you, I wanted to see what had them so frightened. At first I think you tried to turn me away, but after a while I think you realized that it might be nice to have someone who would listen to you."

"Well then, what did I talk about?" He prodded.

"Why are you so interested to know about what you talked about? If anything _you_ should know," She laughed.

"I don't know, I just want to know what I was like as a child."

"Well, you always talked about being angry, but that wasn't until a little bit after you got to know me. Sometimes we'd talk about death, and sometimes you'd talk about how you felt so aware about the world around you. About how awful it was and how you felt you could never fit in; about how you wished you could make people pay for it."

"And how did you respond to those words?" He inquired, his eyes seeming somewhat lustful.

"Well I just fed into your anger, seeing that I too was a very outcasted child," Inga admitted, "But there was one conversation that we had that stands out to me in my memory, you were complaining about how foolish and unaccepting the world was, as usual; and for once you actually turned to me and asked me my opinion, and to this day, I will never _ever_ forget my response. Do you know what I said?" She asked him. He shook his head and slowly she gave him a twisted smile, "I said, 'Someday, when I am grown, I will burn this village to the ground. I will listen to the screams of all the people who ever judged me, and along with them I will fall, being the monster they pushed me to be."

Ivar's face broke into a smile, "And what did I say?" He asked her.

Inga smirked at him, her eyes matching his feeling of lust, "You said, "I can't wait for that day."

Ivar's eyes were wide, his smile was broad, and somehow he appeared aroused by such words, "You were such a dark child, and also somehow so deep."

"I had seen a lot. I didn't know how to cope with my feelings, to be honest, I'm still not good at coping to this day."

"And yet you still remain so hidden; and you make me feel so torn."

She smiled at him, "That's the price you pay for choosing me. I'm a mess, but it never shows." She stood and crossed the room, reaching into a chest and pulling out a night gown. Slipping off her dress and furs, she changed, pleased with the eyes staring at her exposed body.

After changing she hopped back on the bed and pulled herself under the furs and quilts layered on the bed. She smiled invitingly to Ivar, and shyly he joined her. Once situated comfortably under the covers, Inga turned to him and grinned.

"You know, I almost forgot to tell you something."

He cocked his head in question, "What is it?"

"Odin came to me as well; to tell me of your father's death and to tell me that I'm destined for something other than destruction. He also hinted something that might have to do with the true identity of my father."

"And?"

"And I think that means that good things are coming our way. Things hopefully between us and things regarding revenge."

"Ah, revenge," He sighed. Inga smiled to him before blowing out the candle on their bedside.

Now in the dark, he turned his head to face her and ever so quietly he whispered, "I can't wait for that day."

 **Hi, back again. I just want to say thank you to everyone who answered my question. I love hearing your opinions (and I love how you all put Ivar as your #1...he's just the best, isn't he? *sigh*) This time my question (though this isn't really a question) is to list a scene in Vikings that you found funniest. Personally I love almost all the scenes between Ivar and Floki (especially the one where Ivar pays him a visit...I love there conversation and the looks Floki gives Ivar when Helga explains that she adopted Tanaruz); together Floki and Ivar are absolutely adorable; I can't wait to start writing their scenes!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay...so, I'm back. At least I hope I am. I am sorry that I have not updated since June-July, but after July, I was in a theater camp, and then school started, and then I got involved in a christmas musical that is currently being performed onstage every weekend. Also, I had major writer's block...and I still kinda do. This chapter is very thrown together, and doesn't have everything I originally planned it to have. The next chapter may be as equally choppy, but it is mainly because I want to get to "the good part" and I am a hoping to eventually catch up with the season that is currently being aired. Thank you to everyone who suffered through the wait. Even if no one cared about my story not being updated, I am still very sorry, and I will work my hardest to get a chapter out at least once a month. Thank you for waiting for this horrible, sloppy chapter.**

 **-Kirsten**

Chapter 10

All throughout the night, Inga tossed and turned. She couldn't seem to fall asleep, probably due to the fact that she practically slept the whole day away. So at the crack of dawn, she awoke and began to clean the house; picking up and cleaning dirty dishes, collecting all of the dirty laundry, and even cooking up some breakfast. And after what seemed like hours all to herself, someone finally awoke. It was Sigurd.

She almost didn't expect him to be up so early, and in a way, he appeared quite surprised to see her up as well.

"Good morning, Sigurd," She greeted him. He gave her a small smile before pulling a stool up to the dinner table and sitting down, "Are you hungry?" She asked him.

He gave her a simple nod, "I am starved. We practically ate nothing last night, just a ton of ale and a loaf of bread."

Inga laughed, "Yes, Ivar told me _all_ about you and Ubbe last night. I take it you are feeling better?"

Once again he nodded, "Yes, I am feeling better, and thank the gods for that," He glanced up for a moment to see what Inga was doing, "So what did you make?" He asked her, eyeing the plate of food in her hands.

"Just a little something with the fish Ubbe bought for me yesterday. I hope it tastes okay."

"At this point, I don't care how it tastes; just as long as I can chew it and swallow it, I'll eat it." Eagerly, he took the plate from Inga's hands and he began to eat, a smile slowly consuming his face.

"This is delicious," He remarked, giving her a bright grin, "You should really be complimented on your cooking more."

"It's just cooking, it is really no big deal," she responded, "It is important that a woman know how to cook, especially if she plans on being a wife someday."

"Speaking of which…"

Upon the words coming out of Sigurd's mouth, Inga shot him a look, "If you are planning to say anything cruel about your brother any time soon, I will cut your tongue out," She snapped.

To her surprise, Sigurd just laughed casually and smiled, "I was just going to ask you a question." She nodded approvingly, but still stood with her arms crossed over her chest defiantly.

"Alright then, well…I wanted to know if you were hoping to marry Ivar someday."

Inga smirked, "And what if I told you yes?"

"Well, then I would ask you why. I would want to know what was so special about him."

"Let me put it simply," She replied, "I find Ivar to be a very attractive and an arousing man. He is intelligent, strong, and determined. He has fury inside him, which I enjoy, and we were quite close as children. He is everything I could ask for, and more."

"And what about me?" He inquired, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

"You are jealous." She stated bluntly. "You are jealous, and you sit around being jealous of your crippled brother who has struggled through life," She spat, "You question why I do not have feelings for you, but it is as simple as that. You may be handsome, strong, talented, maybe even alluring, but your jealously overshadows all of that. You sicken me."

A cross look had become to appear on Sigurd's face as he stood up, "Once Ivar realizes the kind of commitment that goes along with being in a relationship, he will leave you behind. Once it happens, do not come crawling back to me all apologetic. I have given you many warnings."

"And all of them are shit."

Boldly, she snatched the plate out of his hands, and ousted him out of his seat, "Go wake Ubbe, I'll go tend to _my lover_."

Sigurd grumbled something under his breath and stomped away. Hopefully, this would be the last time that he ever bothered Inga, though she highly doubted his warnings would ever stop.

Relieving a sigh, she turned on her heel and walked towards the bed where an unconscious Ivar lay. For such a violent and pained young man, he appeared to sleep very peacefully and she almost wished that she could watch him forever.

She knew deep inside that he was very much able to care for himself, but staring at him in that instant, she realized how young he still was. Yes, they were both the same age, but inside he was still very vulnerable. It enlightened her to see him so calm and un-alert.

After a minute or so, she finally broke her trance and carefully walked to the side of the bed. With a gently shake, she attempted to awaken Ivar. At first he tried to pull away and go back to sleep, but eventually he realized it was her and turned to gaze at her with his piercing blue eyes.

"I see you are finally awake," She smiled.

He gave her a small nod before trying to pull himself up, "After the late night I had, I was very tired."

"I believe that," She smirked, "I made breakfast, why don't you go eat?" She asked him.

"Do you have anywhere to be today?" He wondered.

She shook her head, "Unfortunately, I do. I have some chores around the house I would like to do, and I think I am going to take a small trip through the woods. I figured that you may all need a day to talk and come up with a plan of revenge. I think it would be best that I not participate in whatever you plan, though. As much as I would love to, I do not want to draw too much attention to myself."

"When did you make that decision?"

She cast him a sad smile, "I have been thinking about it for a while. You see, I do not wish to get in the way. Getting revenge for your mother is your moment. I know how much you loved her, and well, you are a grown man. You do not need me. I will however, gladly help you formulate a plan if need be."

He nodded in agreement, "I must admit, we will need your clever mind."

She kissed him on the forehead, and then pulled herself up on her feet. "Well then, I best be off."

He smiled, "I assume I will see you later in the day?"

"Yes," She responded, "Oh, and Ivar?"

"Uh, huh?"

"Try not to kill your brothers yet, alright?" She teased.

He smiled, "I will try my best."

As the day dragged on, Inga did her work around the house as Ivar hashed out a plan for revenge with his brothers. Night was nearing quickly, and invitations to join the brother's cause against England had been sent. In several days time, men from all over the land would appear at shore. Now all they had to do was wait.

The day finally came when the ships arrived. Inga was sitting on the docks with Ivar when all of a sudden, a fleet of ships appeared out from the fog. Upon first sighting, Ivar's face lit up, which made Inga equally overjoyed.

"Tonight is the night," he told her.

"Your revenge?"

He nodded confidently, "Exactly. I will accuse her in front of everyone and even if an interference occurs and revenge is not carried out, I will have at least made a name for myself in the other men's eyes."

"If someone were to interfere, it would most likely be Bjorn," Inga noted.

"That is true, but he is gone."

"That does not mean that he will not be back."

Ivar grunted, "Well, even if he does show up, that does not mean anything. Tonight, tomorrow, months from now, one way or another I will get my revenge."

"Of course you will. You always find a way to get what you want."

Ivar gave her a nod, but deep in his eyes, Inga had a feeling that he did not truly agree with what he said. She soon began to realize the mistake she had made and was about to rephrase herself, when Ubbe strode up from behind and clapped his brother on the back.

"This is it," he said.

"An entire army. And they are ours to use; our little puppets."

Ubbe cast his brother a small grin, before turning and heading off. As he left back the way he came, Ivar turned to Inga.

"You will be attending tonight, correct?"

She nodded, "I will try my best to stay at your side, but also help keep an eye on those around us."

"And if people ask who you are?'

Inga giggled, "Then tell them who I am. 'The woman of your dreams'".

Ivar looked up at her, his eyes wide and full of confusion, "The woman? My woman?" He inquired.

A light smile spread across Inga's face, "Yes, Ivar. I am _your woman_."

 **So that's it. I know, bad right? But at least my story is still going and I didn't give up. Any predictions? Opinions? Comments? I take questions of all sorts, about me, my interests, and my Vikings preferences, so do not be afraid to show some love (even though I was gone forever...again...I AM SO FREAKING SORRY). Anyway, have a great day!**


	11. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi...so...I've been gone for like a year...whoops.

I don't really know where to start. I feel bad for not updating cause this story has gotten some attention and I hate to leave people hanging. I wrote this story like over a year and a half ago, so I was probably twelve at the time (WAY too young to be on here) and towards the time that chapter 9 and 10 came out I had just turned thirteen. I turned fourteen like three weeks ago and over the course of this past school year my writing ability has changed a lot. It's not too different, but my thought process and ideas for this story are SUPER different. Personally I think I made Inga's backstory a bit too dramatized and I was honestly kind of making it up as I went, so that kind of put me in a state of writer's block.

Recently, I went back and re-read like everything I wrote. I actually quite enjoyed some of what I had come up with, so I have decided to try something out. Instead of completely writing a new fanfiction (because I love Inga too much to abandon her XD), I am going to do a "reboot" and re-write the first couple chapters and tweak some of the backstories and content. I will try and include some of the original conversations/events/pieces of writing in this "reboot," but I'm not sure what all I am going to keep. Also, I am partially deciding to re-write this because I didn't really like how I had written Inga. I know many people enjoyed her and that many aren't picky, but I personally like to be able to really stand back and be proud of my work and how I wrote Inga didn't really make me feel very confident.

Another reason that I have been gone (for anyone who cares) is that I had a lot of schoolwork to do this past year. I also was a part of a Christmas musical at my local theatre, and I played one of the leads in my school production of "Fiddler on the Roof." I wanted to get back into the grove of writing this summer, but I haven't really been able to because 1: I'm starting Highschool and I'm taking a ton of Honors courses, so I've had a lot of work to do, 2: My mom had a baby like a month ago, so things have been hectic with him, and 3: I have been working more on writing original pieces and on updating them on Wattpad account. I can't guarantee that I will post too frequently, but I'm still willing to try (because I REALLY want to finish this, especially since I have never, EVER finished a full on chapter book/novel before).

Again, I am so sorry for being inactive. I hope that people are still interested in reading the reboot. Please comment if you are interested in me doing a "Trapped in Her Eyes: Reboot." Even if only a few people show interest, I will still try and publish it. Thank you to everyone who has shown my story love in the past and thank you to those who plan on continuing their support for my fanfic. You guys are the best!

Peace out!


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